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Campanula poscharskyana ‘Blue Waterfall’, PP# 13,161, is a marvelous, low growing, high-impact perennial that is covered in summer with masses of star-shaped, bright blue flowers.
Hardiness Zone |
Light Preference |
Plant Height |
Plant Spread |
 |
 |
 |
 |
USDA Zones 4 to 7 |
Sun to partial shade |
8” to 10” |
Plant 20” apart |
It is an easy to grow (and to care for) performer that floods garden areas with cascading, low spreading mounds of refreshing color.
This select form of Serbian Bellflower is a Blooms of Bressingham® introduction that caught our eye and captured our hearts from the moment it first flowered in our trials. Several summers later, we have the pleasure of introducing it to you.
Consider this:
‘Blue Waterfall’ is so well-named, for it carries a profusion of small, bright blue flowers on multiple, compact, trailing sprays of attractive green foliage. Each flower has five petals, arranged in a star pattern, that open to reveal a luminous, pale blue to white center which seems to sparkle, adding to the appeal.
Click on the picture for larger view
It can begin as soon as early summer (depending upon the timeliness of summer's arrival), and will last through mid or late summer before taking a brief respite. Look for a more moderate round of repeating bloom in autumn.
Serbian Bellflowers are easy and adaptable growers and ‘Blue Waterfall’ is no exception. Just choose a site in a sunny to partially shaded location with any normal, reasonably well-drained soil. Follow the planting instructions on the tag, water regularly until it becomes established, mulch to help keep the roots cool and moist, and you will find that it will quickly settle in and grow away.
Once established, it is capable of withstanding quite dry conditions, but obviously the better the conditions the better the growth rate and flowering will be; a little extra care is well worth the effort. Trimming back the old flower stems after the main flush of flowering ends is also a great way to encourage fresh, new, compact growth and heavier repeat bloom in autumn.
It is wonderful gushing out from raised beds and rock gardens, spilling down over sloping banks and stone walls, or seeping out over the edges of paths and paved areas. It makes a superb, low spreading, ground cover and is an outstanding choice for borders or lightly shaded beds where the massed effect of the sparkling blue, low and spreading mounds is both practical and a designer's dream. Typically, it will spread to about 12 inches or so the first season, then double in size during the second and successive years. If you are planting it to create a solid mass of ground cover, space them about 4 per square yard. The original parental species comes from mountainous areas, making it a good choice for roof gardens, balconies, and gardens in windy locations.
In my own garden, I use it as a container plant. I love the shimmering blue and the way it cascades down over the edges of planters. These Garden Splendor® specimens can fill a container on their own, a marvelous, easy way to add instant color.
‘Blue Waterfall’ is a cross between two separate forms of a widely grown species, Campanula poscharskyana. It was developed at the famous Blooms of Bressingham® gardens in Norfolk, England. The original species hails from the Balkan Mountains in modern day Croatia, and over the years, several garden worthy forms have been collected and bred.
Georg Arends, a famous twentieth century German plant breeder (best remembered for his Astilbe introductions), selected and introduced a very good form called ‘Stella’ in 1945. It was from this that Adrian Bloom, and Paul Gooderham, the propagator and manager of the New Plant Development Unit at Blooms, crossed and bred this very fine cultivar in 1996. The first plants were introduced to us in 2002. Since then, we have been putting it though our trials — testing and determining its suitability for inclusion in our Garden Splendor® line.
Needless to say, we have been very impressed by its performance, beauty, and versatility. It is our pleasure to pass this information on to you with the hope that you will enjoy it also.
‘Blue Waterfall’ is a good example of why we here at Garden Splendor® put so much effort into seeking out and growing for you “the best of the tried and true and the most promising of the exciting and new”™.
‘Blue Waterfall’ is starting to flow into our garden center now. But there is going to be a limited supply available to us, so hurry up, come in, and ‘get wet’ with ‘Blue Waterfall’!
Until next time, remember.... Enjoy your gardening. It's good for you!
