Friday, December 9, 2011

Cup and Saucer Canterbury Bells

It required a lot of patience to grow Canterbury bells flower from seeds here. I thought at first the seeds won't germinate at all and almost gave up on them. After almost 2 months suddenly there were new seedlings in the pot. I probably sowed the seeds too early and was lucky that not all those seeds got rotten. If  I remember correctly it probably best to sow them in May/June which is late fall/early winter here in Adelaide plain. Probably needs colder temperature to germinate because I was surprised to see Canterbury bells seedlings sprouted in early-mid winter. But brace yourself because we had to wait for two Springs to pass for the Canterbury bells plant to bloom (waited for a year and a half). It was worth the wait. Now I understand why it is categorised as a biennal plant. But since we have mild winter, hopefully it will stay as perennial here. Lenay has threaten me many times to pull out our Canterbury bells plants because it just stays there and does nothing before it blooms. I had to beg many times to let it just stay there. Now who diligently does the dead-heading to prolong blooming season of our Canterbury bells because she fell in love with the bloom. Lenay of course.
Purple Cup and Saucers.
Without the saucers blooming near our front entrance door.
Bees simply adore Canterbury bells bloom.
The tall ones need to be staked as it leaning towards the ground.
The ones growing in partial shade does better.
How our front yard looks at the moment.
Kind of messy.
Many of the flowers are self-sowed ones like larkspur, viola, pansy and calendula.
Have a nice weekend!

12 comments:

Sue Catmint said...

dear Diana, I do admire your patience. I used to grow Canterbury bells, they are quite divine. It will be interesting to see if it becomes perennial. cheers, cm

cathy@home said...

I love the look of your garden it has a cottage feel about it.

Mark Willis said...

Hmmmm, I see what you mean: your patience has been well rewarded. They are lovely flowers. Have you got any Hollyhocks? A pink Hollyhock beside those blue Canterbury Bells would look even more "cottage-ey".

Sean L said...

Yeah, first impression was wow, cottage-like feel. The intensity of the bells are superb.

Shoutforfood said...

wow! purple is so beautifully captured.

Sue Garrett said...

A agree cottage garden not a mess! I love any sort of campanula from the tiny rockery types to the tall ones - the blue is lovely.

Sunray Gardens said...

Well worth the wait. Very pretty.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Jody said...

Your patience paid off. They're beautiful.

Dani P. said...

Perennial ? Mine died in the autumn ... They are self seeding plants in my garden. Great shots, Diana !!!
Have a nice weekend !

Unknown said...

wow lovely blooms :) love the color :)

http://point-shoot-vhen.blogspot.com/2011/12/365350-351.html

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

your flower is so beautiful. have a nice weekend to you too.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Catmint~The Canterbury bells are still blooming nicely. I would like to see how long can it withstand the increasing day temperature here.

Cathy~It finally look a bit like cottage garden here. But mid-summer will be a different story hope not a hot desert.

Mark~There are actually 3 hollyhock plants near that Canterbury bells plant on the last photo. Unfortunately, those hollyhock won't bloom for us. If it bloom will make me most happy with that spot and more cottage feel.

Sean L~It was a bit tricky to snap photos of those Canterbury bells plant. Had to wait for cloudy days to get the right colour.

Loveforfood~Purple is one of my favourite flower colour.

Sue~Oh thanks learn a new word today campanula.

Cher~ It is worth the wait :).

Jody~Well because the plant did not show any kind of disease that I was able to be patient with it.

Dani~I hope they self-seeded here in our garden too.

Venus~Thank you for visiting.

Sonia~ Terima kasih. Hope you have a great weekend too.

Ewa~ Thank you for hosting!