American Bellflower

Common Names

Tall Bellflower, American Bellflower, Bellflower

Summary

Campanula americana, the American Bellflower, is an upright native wildflower of eastern North America that typically grows 3–6 feet tall with a clumping, erect habit and blue-violet, five-petaled flowers arranged in tall racemes, blooming roughly June through September; it inhabits moist open woods, meadows, streambanks, and ditches, and has alternate lance-shaped to oblong-elliptic leaves, often self-seeding to naturalize.

Cultivation favors rich, moist, well-drained soils in part shade, with tolerance for more sun in cooler summers and a requirement for regular moisture; spacing of 12–36 inches helps maintain vigor. It attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, making it suitable for native plantings, pollinator gardens, and natural landscapes such as meadows, riparian zones, woodland edges, and rain gardens; propagation is by seed, which can germinate in about four weeks, indoors 6–8 weeks before last frost or outdoors in late spring, and plants are hardy in USDA zones 4–8.

Lifecycle

Annual, Biennial, Perennial

Height

3-6 feet

Spread

12-24 inches

Hardiness Zones

Zones 4a-8b

Sunlight Requirements

Ideally partial shade; tolerates full sun.

Soil Type

Moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter with neutral pH around 6–8

Soil Drainage

Well-drained soil

Soil pH

6.0-8.0, neutral

Bloom Color

Blue

Bloom Time

Summer

Foliage Color

Green

Fall Foliage Color

Blue-Green, Reddish

Leaf Lifecycle

Deciduous

Growth Rate

Medium

Seasons of Interest

Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Propagation Methods

Seeds (seed propagation; self-seeding)

Attracts Wildlife

Attracts bees and butterflies, attracts other pollinators