Campanula medium Big Ben Lavender coated seeds - Canterbury bells

Canterbury bell or Campanula medium ‘Big Ben Lavender’ F1 has charming, well-open, upward-facing lavender-pink bell-shaped flowers, good vase life and regular flowering. These qualities are sought after in floristry as well as in the flower garden. It is also suitable for mid-season borders, edging and large pots.
Sowing is easier with pelleted seeds: each tiny seed is surrounded by a fine layer of clay or neutral material that makes it larger, easier to handle and sow individually.

This biennial or annual plant belongs to the Campanulaceae family and descends from the species Campanula medium, commonly known as Canterbury bell or bellflower. The cultivar ‘Big Ben Lavender’ is part of the Big Ben series, developed in the Netherlands by Evanthia Genetics for professional floriculture. It produces very uniform plants, with long, sturdy stems, upward-facing corollas and regular flowering over a short cycle of 10 to 14 weeks after planting. 
The plant has an upright habit and shows more or less rapid growth depending on light and temperature. In open ground, it reaches 60 to 80 cm in height and 25 to 30 cm in spread; in a large pot, it remains more compact, around 50 to 60 cm. Grown as an annual or biennial, it does not produce offshoots. 
The flowers are large, well-open campanulate bells, about 4 to 6 cm long; in ‘Big Ben Lavender’, they are a soft pinkish-lavender lilac, with prominent cream-yellow stamens and a green calyx that accentuates the corolla. The inflorescences form a terminal cluster along firm stems from May to July in temperate climates; cut stems keep their freshness for about ten days in a vase. 
The foliage is deciduous: a basal rosette of ovate to lanceolate, toothed leaves gives way to narrower leaves on the stems. The root system is a taproot, with a deep main root. This explains the plant's sensitivity to late transplanting and to containers that are too shallow. Fruiting takes the form of erect capsules that open through small pores at the base to release tiny seeds. 
Cultivated since the Renaissance in European gardens, Canterbury bells are popular with florists for the charming style of their flowers and the straightness of their stems.

'Big Ben Lavender' brings a pastel shade that is easy to combine in mid-season scenes. In a border, place it in the middle of the bed. Its slender stems covered with bells will take over from spring bulbs and early-flowering perennials. In pots, use a container at least 25 cm deep and well-draining substrate. 
This campanula pairs well with white or pink foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea), Moroccan toadflax 'Licilia Azure', love-in-a-mist, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) or annual baby's breath 'Covent Garden'. Also associate it with other cultivars from the series: ‘Big Ben White’, ‘Big Ben Pink’ and ‘Big Ben Deep Blue’, which create a soft, coherent monochrome scheme without dominating the space.