CHAPTER XX 

 Campanula (Bellflower) 



THE Bellflowers (natural order Campanulaceae) are in- 

 dispensable rock-garden flowers, and a representative 

 selection offers remarkable variety. Some kinds are of 

 erect growth, with cup or salver-shaped flowers ; some, 

 also of erect growth, produce graceful pendent bell- 

 shaped blooms ; while others, again, are of prostrate or 

 drooping habit of growth or form dense little carpets 

 covered with dainty bells of blue or white. The rock- 

 garden Bellflowers are generally of easy cultivation, 

 though there are some that need special consideration. 

 We therefore divide them into two classes the first 

 comprising only such as are easily grown, the second 

 devoted to those needing more than usual care. Prac- 

 tically all of them can be raised from seeds, but when 

 several kinds are grown together it is found that the 

 seedlings do not always come true. Seeds of the rarer 

 kinds are difficult to procure. They should be sown, 

 preferably in late summer as soon as ripe, or, alternatively, 

 in spring in pots or pans of very light soil, and just covered 

 with the same compost ; the pots are placed in a frame 

 or greenhouse. The seedlings ought to be pricked out 

 as soon as they can be handled, and subsequently planted 



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