Harebell
Campanula rotundifolia ·
Thread-thin stems carry nodding, papery, sky-blue bells all summer. The bluebell of Scotland, native across the cool north.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 12 in wide
- Zones
- 3 to 6
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to late August
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Weaver
A bed built around harebell
The planner designed this bed around harebell when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why harebell stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Harebell × 2, blue
- 2 Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' × 8, blue
- 3 October daphne × 3, pink
- 4 Little bluestem 'The Blues' × 3, tan
- 5 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 6 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 8 Camassia × 4, white
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Near the front. At 12 in it is the step between creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' (5 in) in front and little bluestem 'The Blues' (3 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 2 plants in 2 places. An accent is a punctuation mark: the repeat along the bed gives it rhythm.
Why now
- In flower for 10 weeks. From late June to late August.
- Fills a gap. For six of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as a cottage garden: 21 of the 21 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. Harebell repeats along the bed to tie it together. Creeping phlox 'Emerald Blue' is the plant there is most of: 8 of the 28.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 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 harebell goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: weaver. A light, airy plant threaded singly between sturdier ones to knit the planting together.
So fine it disappears among bigger plants, so use it in the open, among rocks or low grasses. It needs poor soil and cool summers to persist.
- Rock gardens and gravel
- Naturalising in lean, sunny grass
- Cool-climate native planting
What to plant with harebell
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue fescue: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
- Sea thrift: flowers first, early May to mid June, so the spot is never empty.
- Pussytoes: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (4 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about harebell
Does harebell need sun or shade?
Harebell 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 ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and little watering once settled.
What zones does harebell grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 6. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 6 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 harebell flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to late August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 3 | Early July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Early July to early September |
| Zone 5 | Late June to late August |
| Zone 6 | Late June to late August |
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 harebell be planted?
8 in (20 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 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many harebell plants do I need?
At 8 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 27 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 16 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 86 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one at a time, threaded between sturdier plants.
In the bed above, the planner used two in two groups.
What flowers after harebell?
Harebell is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- October daphne: from mid September to late October, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Meadow saffron: from mid September to mid October, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does harebell look like in winter?
Harebell 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 '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
- 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
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 12 in (30 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 in (20 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late June to late August; hanging bells; blue
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Upright, self-seeding
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 6
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). 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.