Bellflower 'Kent Belle'
Campanula 'Kent Belle' ·
Large, shining bells of royal purple hang along arching stems as tall as a table in early summer.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around bellflower 'Kent Belle'
The planner designed this bed around bellflower 'Kent Belle' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why bellflower 'Kent Belle' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bellflower 'Kent Belle' × 5, purple
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 5, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 24, yellow
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Lady's mantle × 3, green
- 7 Surprise lily × 3, pink
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, daisies, airy sprays and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for lady's mantle. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only purple.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 5 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late June to early August.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) 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 scheme leans cool (purple, blue and pink) and uses yellow for warmth, with green to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 10 Excellent, 7 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 'Kent Belle' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
Taller and glossier than 'Sarastro', with a looser, more romantic habit. It needs support among stronger plants, and spreads gently in good soil.
- Cottage borders
- Partnering with old roses
- Cutting
What to plant with bellflower 'Kent Belle'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English rose: purple against yellow, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for seven weeks.
- Lady's mantle: in flower together for three weeks, from late June; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Peony.
Questions about bellflower 'Kent Belle'
Does bellflower 'Kent Belle' need sun or shade?
Bellflower 'Kent Belle' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does bellflower 'Kent Belle' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 8. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °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 'Kent Belle' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 7 | Mid June to late July |
| Zone 8 | Mid June to late 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 'Kent Belle' be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bellflower 'Kent Belle' plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
Is there a native plant like bellflower 'Kent Belle'?
Bellflower 'Kent Belle' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Bee balm 'Purple Rooster': the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour.
- Purple coneflower: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers late June to early September, wants average soil.
- Garden phlox 'Laura': the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid July to early September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Will bellflower 'Kent Belle' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is moderate. Spreads gently by creeping roots in rich soil. Divide it every three years.
What flowers after bellflower 'Kent Belle'?
Bellflower 'Kent Belle' is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall.
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Black-eyed Susan 'Goldsturm': from late July to late September, 2 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does bellflower 'Kent Belle' look like in winter?
Bellflower 'Kent Belle' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Campanula
- Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold'
- 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
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to early August; hanging bells; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
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.