Dalmatian bellflower
Campanula portenschlagiana ·
A dense, evergreen cushion that covers itself in deep purple bells in early summer and often again in autumn. It roots into the crevices of walls.
- Size
- 6 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to early July
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around Dalmatian bellflower
The planner designed this bed around Dalmatian bellflower 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 Dalmatian bellflower stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Dalmatian bellflower × 11, purple
- 2 Bloody cranesbill × 4, pink
- 3 Blue wood aster × 3, lavender
- 4 Garden phlox 'David' × 3, white
- 5 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Lady's mantle × 5, green
- 7 Broad-leaved grape hyacinth × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, daisies, dense clusters and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only purple.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 11 plants in 3 groups (5, 3 and 3). Seen again further along, the same plant ties the bed together.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late May to early July.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill and lady's mantle in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Garden phlox 'David' and blue wood aster anchor the back corners of the bed: the tallest plants on the plan stand there. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 53% of the visual weight and the right half 47%.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 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 Dalmatian bellflower goes in a border
At 6 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: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
Neater and slower than the Serbian bellflower, so safer among small plants. The dark purple is strong enough to carry a wall on its own.
- Wall crevices and paving
- The front edge in sun or part shade
- Rock gardens
What to plant with Dalmatian bellflower
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sea thrift: in flower together for three weeks, from late May.
- Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch': in flower together for four weeks, from late May.
- Coral bells: its burgundy leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (12 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about Dalmatian bellflower
Does Dalmatian bellflower need sun or shade?
Dalmatian bellflower grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), 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 little watering once settled.
What zones does Dalmatian bellflower 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 Dalmatian bellflower flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to early July. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early June to mid July |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 6 | Late May to early July |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to late June |
| Zone 8 | Early May to late June |
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 Dalmatian bellflower be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6 in (15 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many Dalmatian bellflower plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used 11 in three groups.
Is there a native plant like Dalmatian bellflower?
Dalmatian bellflower is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Robin's plantain 'Lynnhaven Carpet': the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to late May, lavender, not purple.
- Woodland strawberry: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to late August, white, not purple.
- Green-and-gold: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late April to mid June, yellow, not purple.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after Dalmatian bellflower?
Dalmatian bellflower is over by early July. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Black-eyed Susan: from mid July to mid September, 24 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall.
What does Dalmatian bellflower look like in winter?
Dalmatian bellflower keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Campanula
- Bellflower 'Dickson's Gold' Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold'
- 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
- 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
- 6 in (15 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to early July; hanging bells; purple
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
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.