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The middle bell is an ornamental plant with simple requirements for care and cultivation. You can plant it in any garden, and if you follow simple rules, the biennial will delight you with abundant flowering.
General description of the middle bell
The middle bell (Latin Campanula medium) is a herbaceous biennial plant. The stem of the culture is erect, covered with hard hairs. Basal leaves of a sessile type and oval-lanceolate, and stem leaves are broad-lanceolate, rich green. In the first year of cultivation, it gives a leaf rosette at the surface of the earth, dying off in winter, and in the spring, long shoots ending in inflorescences appear in the same place. After flowering in the second autumn, the biennial dies off.
The middle bell is a biennial that dies off after flowering in the second season
It reaches 50-100 cm in height, up to 50 cm in diameter, the bush is quite compact and does not disintegrate. It grows quickly, but the extra space in the garden does not capture and does not belong to aggressive crops.
From June to early September, it produces buds in the form of inverted glasses with petals slightly wavy at the edges, curving outward. By type, the flowers of the middle bell can be regular or double, reach about 7 cm in length and form lush inflorescences of 45-50 pieces. The color scheme is mostly cold and consists of whites, blues, pinks, purples and blues. The decorative period usually lasts a month or longer, and the splendor is determined by the growing conditions, the culture gives the maximum number of flowers in sunny places with moderate moisture.
Flowers at the middle bell are usually of a characteristic goblet shape
The medium bell prefers to grow in well-lit areas, where it shows maximum decorativeness. In the shade, the biennial develops worse, although it can bloom for a longer time. The frost resistance of the plant allows it to withstand winter colds up to - 30-35 ° C.
The medium bell grows throughout the world in the temperate zones. It can be seen in southern Europe and North America, in central Russia, in the Urals and in Western Siberia. It is found mainly in well-lit forest edges and meadows, as well as in the foothills and on rocky slopes.
The best varieties
The middle bell is represented not only by natural forms, but also by decorative varieties. They are particularly lush blooming and brilliantly decorate the landscape.
Bell middle Terry
Terry species is the most popular varietal mixture for biennial plant lovers. It reaches 80 cm in height, in June it brings multi-petal flowers in voluminous pyramidal inflorescences of pink, white and purple. Keeps fresh for a long time in cut, about 2 weeks.
Bell buds of medium Terry in diameter reach 8 cm
Bell middle Color Mix
Another varietal mixture is supplied in packages with seeds of different colors.As a rule, these are terry varieties up to 1 m in height, entering the decorative period from July to early autumn. The shades of the buds can be white, blue, pink and purple, with the help of a medium terry bell, a mixture of colors, you can create a bright multi-colored flower bed.
Mix of colors - a ready-made set of seeds of different colors
Carminrose
The medium bell Carmine Rose is a cultivar with a height of about 80 cm and rich pink buds. Flowering occurs from July to early September, when the wilted inflorescences are removed, it becomes especially abundant and prolonged.
Carminroza buds reach 7 cm in length and width
Rosea
Rosea rises up to 80 cm above the soil and produces pink flowers from June to September. The buds are long, up to 7 cm, they stand for a long time in the cut, the freshness lasts for 12 days.
Rosea prefers well-lit areas
Snezhana
The middle bell Snezhana belongs to the high varieties and rises up to 70 cm. In the period of maximum decorativeness it enters at the beginning of summer, brings large white buds up to 8 cm in diameter. Looks most effective in sunny flower beds.
Snezhana can bloom profusely until autumn when dried shoots are removed
Funny gramophones
Varietal mix Veselye gramophone from the Russian manufacturer Aelita is a package of seeds of a medium bell with different colors. Biennials grow up to 70-80 cm, in June and July they bring buds of white, blue and purple flowers.
The buds of the Merry Gramophone are like inverted cups with widely diverging petals.
Cup and saucer
Varietal group Cup and saucer from the domestic manufacturer SeDek is a mixture of white, blue and pink medium bells. Plant height is about 80 cm.
Medium bells Cup and saucer bloom from early summer to July
Dream
Dreaming is another Russian variety from SeDek. A tall biennial plant reaches 80 cm above ground level, in June and July it brings large rose-shaped buds.
Flowers near the middle bell Dream are collected in pyramidal inflorescences up to 35 cm long
Crimson ringing
A mixture of seeds Raspberry ringing from the manufacturer Russkiy Ogorod - these are terry bells of white, pink and blue shades. In height, biennials grow up to 75 cm, bloom profusely from July to September.
Raspberry ringing is distinguished by decorative goblet-type buds with curved edges of the petals
Crimson Rose
Biennial medium bell Crimson rose is a tall ornamental plant up to 80 cm. It blooms in June and July. The flowers of the variety are glass-shaped, pale pink, with bright yellow stamens in the core.
If you remove old buds from the Crimson Rose variety in time, flowering will last until the end of summer.
Application in design
When arranging a garden, the biennial is used both independently and in combination with other plants. In the photo of the middle bell Color Mix, it can be seen that it and other varieties are used:
- as part of flower beds, mixborders and alpine slides;
An average bell goes well with short perennials in flower beds
- for the design of walking paths;
The middle bell, planted along the path, draws attention to it.
- for the formation of artistic borders;
Blooming medium bell looks very attractive when tightly planted.
- for growing in flowerpots.
Medium bell can be grown in a pot on a terrace
You can combine the biennial with marigolds and phloxes, roses and carnations, clematis and astilbe. The culture feels comfortable next to any perennials that prefer light and moderate moisture.
The biennial plant is not recommended to be planted in close proximity to trees and tall shrubs.The flower will not be able to show maximum decorativeness and, moreover, will have to compete for water and nutrients.
Reproduction methods
A two-year-old middle bell is propagated in two ways:
- seeds;
- cuttings.
Despite the fact that the shoots of the second year are suitable for cuttings, the seed method is much more often practiced. The seed of the middle bell sprouts easily and quickly.
Growing a medium bellflower from seed
Usually, a biennial plant is first germinated at home, and already formed seedlings are transferred to open ground. Seedling care is not particularly difficult, but it is important to know the algorithm:
- The cultivation of a medium terry bell from seeds begins in the fall, at the end of October. Wooden or plastic containers are filled with a suitable potting mix of turf, sand and rotted leaves, taken in a ratio of 6: 1: 3, and then watered abundantly.
The soil mixture for seedlings of a medium bell should be nutritious and loose
- The seeds are spread over the surface of the soil, slightly pressed into it and sprinkled with a thin layer of sand. The box is covered with polyethylene or glass to create a greenhouse environment, and placed in a dry, dark place at a temperature of about 20 ° C.
At first, the seedlings are kept in greenhouse conditions under a film.
- From time to time, the cover is removed from the container in order to ventilate and moisten the soil from the spray bottle. After about 14 days, the first shoots appear, after which the box can be rearranged to the light.
After the appearance of real sprouts, the film is removed and the amount of light is increased
When the seedlings release real leaves and stretch about 3 cm, they will need to be dived - transplanted with a distance of about 15 cm between individual shoots. After that, the seedlings of the middle bell are again removed for 10 days in a shaded place, not forgetting to moisten the soil from time to time.
Biennials can be moved to the site at the end of May, when return frosts are finally left behind. Since the plant will develop rapidly, when planted in the ground, 30 cm of free space is left between individual flowers.
Planting a medium bell in the ground
In open soil, the middle bell is planted with both seeds and cuttings. In both cases, the procedure is carried out at the end of May after the establishment of the final heat.
The place for the biennial is selected sunny, open, light partial shade is also allowed. The plant needs a soil that is not heavy, but fertile, with neutral acidity and good drainage. Before planting a biennial, it is recommended to mix it with sand and humus:
- If we are talking about growing a mixture of colors or another variety from seeds of an average bell, then the planting material is slightly buried in the selected area into the ground and sprinkled with dry sand. Then the bed is shaded and the covering material is stretched over it. Seedlings appear in 2 weeks, and after another 7 days they can be planted with a distance of 15 cm.
In the soil in the garden, the middle bell is usually planted with seeds.
- If the biennial is rooted with a cuttings, then the shoot is lowered into a shallow hole, covered with the remains of the soil and tamped properly, and then watered abundantly and covered with a film or a jar for a week. It is not necessary to keep the middle bell in the water beforehand; you can bury it in the ground immediately after cutting.
You can root the middle bell with cuttings taken in the second year
Follow-up care
Further care for the middle bell comes down to several mandatory measures:
- Watering. Although the biennial does not like swampiness, it also grows poorly on overdried soil.It is necessary to moisten the plant as the soil dries out; special attention should be paid to it in the summer heat.
- Top dressing. In the second year of life, a two-year-old middle bell can be fertilized with nitrogenous minerals in the spring, and during flowering, phosphorus and potassium can be added to the soil.
- Loosening and mulching. To prevent the soil from souring at the roots of the plant, once every 2 weeks it must be carefully loosened a few centimeters deep. At the same time, it will help to get rid of weeds, which often appear near the middle bell. To preserve moisture and maintain cleanliness, the site can be mulched with a layer of 5 cm; straw, rotted manure or fallen leaves are used as material.
The soil in a flowerbed with bells must be loosened so that the soil can let air through
In the second year of development of the middle bell, its flowering shoots must be tied to the supporting pegs. Under the weight of the inflorescences, the stems can bend, and even break with strong gusts of wind.
Preparing for winter
At the end of September, the middle bell begins to be prepared for winter. First of all, it is necessary to cut the shoots of the biennial plant flush with the ground, and mulch the flower bed with peat, which will serve as a top dressing and an insulating layer at the same time. The thickness of the shelter must be at least 10 cm.
Diseases and pests
The middle bell is rarely affected by disease and insects. But in a cloudy rainy summer with a lack of sun, it can be damaged:
- powdery mildew;
With powdery mildew, the leaves are covered with a white bloom, and the middle bell develops worse
- rust;
With rust, bright red spots appear on the leaves of the middle bell.
- gray rot.
With gray rot at the middle bell, both the stems and the upper parts of the shoot rot
For the treatment of ailments, usually copper sulfate or Fundazol is used. The plant is sprayed when symptoms appear and twice more thereafter, with an interval of 2-3 weeks.
Of the pests for the biennial are dangerous:
- slugs;
Slugs eat leaves in wet weather and can destroy the middle bell bush
- aphid.
Aphids feed on juices and can densely stick around the leaves and stems of an average bell
To deal with insects, you can use pepper infusion or insecticides Aktara and Aktellik. As a prophylaxis for slugs, superphosphate is scattered around the biennial.
Conclusion
The middle bell is a plant with a short life cycle, but very beautiful flowering. It is not difficult to plant a crop in a summer cottage, and care is reduced to periodic watering and loosening of the soil.
