Description

Giant bellflower is an impressive, tall, garden worthy plant. As the generic and common name suggests the flowers are bell shaped and in this species they are held in a loose raceme of nodding violet-blue or sometimes white flowers about 5cm long. Both giant and nettle-leaved bellflowers are erect plant over 50cm tall but with giant bellflower it is softly downy with bluntly angled stem whilst in nettled-leaved bellflower the stem is sharply angled, and the hairs are more bristly than soft. Unaspiringly the basal leaves of giant bellflower are much less nettle like than in the other species as they taper into the leaf stalk and are less deeply toothed.

Habitat Information

Giant Bellflower is a large, showy, native perennial. Commonly grown as a garden plant it can occasionally be found naturalised along roadsides and in waste ground but as a native it prefers damp, shady habitats such as woodlands and riverbanks. It usually favours fertile, calcareous soils and is reasonably widespread across most of Great Britian (recent introduction to the island of Ireland) although much less frequent in the south-east and  south-west of England, the west of Wales and north-west Scotland. Probably most at home in the wood sage sub-community of Ash/Field Maple/Dog’s Mercury woodlands found on the carboniferous limestone of northern England.

Growing Information

Seed can be sown at any time of the year but results are more reliable and successful if sown in the autumn. Can be added to EW1 and EH1.