Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'
Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold' · Campanulaceae
A tight mound of small, heart-shaped, golden-yellow leaves, starred with lavender-blue flowers in early summer.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'
The planner designed this bed around bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' × 17, blue
- 2 Moor grass 'Greenlee' × 3, tan
- 3 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 4 Blue wood aster × 5, lavender
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Golden ragwort × 13, yellow
- 7 Spring starflower × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are spires, dense clusters and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 5 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 64% of the edge.
- 17 plants in 5 runs (5, 5, 3, 3 and 1). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From early June to mid July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With moor grass 'Greenlee' and garden phlox 'David' in mid July: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 49 to 51, left to right. The bed is tied together by its repeats: two kinds come round again along it, bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' and golden ragwort. Every line of the Design check comes out Good or better.
The planner's own design check: 14 Excellent, 3 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
Blue on gold is a ready-made colour scheme at the scale of a teacup. It needs shade from hot afternoon sun, which scorches the leaves, and a place at the very front.
- Gold foliage for the front edge
- Troughs and containers
- Rock gardens in part shade
What to plant with bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Black mondo grass: its black leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (8 in) to stand behind it.
- Bugleweed 'Black Scallop': flowers first, early May to late May, so the spot is never empty; spires rising out of its mound.
- Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears': its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; spires rising out of its mound; tall enough (8 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'
Does bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' need sun or shade?
Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early June to mid July. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Mid June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 6 | Early June to mid July |
| Zone 7 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 8 | Late May to early July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' be planted?
10 in (25 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 12 in (30 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' plants do I need?
At 10 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 17 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 13 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 55 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used 17 in five groups.
Is there a native plant like bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'?
Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Blue-eyed grass: the same job in a bed and the same colour; 9 in taller, flowers mid May to late June.
- Chives: the same job in a bed; 9 in taller, flowers mid May to mid June.
- Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to mid June, yellow, not blue.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after bellflower 'Dickson's Gold'?
Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' is over by mid July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall.
What does bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' look like in winter?
Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Campanula
- Bellflower 'Kent Belle' Campanula 'Kent Belle'
- Bellflower 'Sarastro' Campanula 'Sarastro'
- Carpathian bellflower Campanula carpatica
- Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' Campanula carpatica 'Blue Clips'
- Clustered bellflower Campanula glomerata
- Dalmatian bellflower Campanula portenschlagiana
- Fairy thimbles Campanula cochleariifolia
- Harebell Campanula rotundifolia
- Milky bellflower Campanula lactiflora
- Peach-leaved bellflower Campanula persicifolia
- Serbian bellflower Campanula poscharskyana
- Spotted bellflower 'Cherry Bells' Campanula punctata 'Cherry Bells'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial (groundcover)
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 10 in (25 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early June to mid July; open bowls; blue, lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, semi-evergreen; chartreuse
- Shape
- Mat-forming, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Campanulaceae
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.