Campanula Blue Octopus

Campanula Blue Octopus is a recent hybrid. It is truly unique, with slightly crazy flowers, with delicate and hairy petals curved like the flexible tentacles of a small octopus, blue-violet with a white centre, dancing on spider-like calyxes. It blooms throughout the summer and spreads quickly thanks to its short underground stolons. It forms beautiful clumps of light green, slender and deciduous foliage. Despite its appearance, this somewhat unusual plant is easy to grow in moist and light soil, in the sun.

The hybrid Blue Octopus Bellflower belongs to the Campanulaceae family. It is a hybrid obtained by cross-breeding varieties from Asian species. This plant is a small spreading perennial, forming beautiful clumps. It reaches a height of 40 cm (16in) when flowering, and a minimum diameter of 30 cm (12in). The flowering period is from June to August, in the form of open bells composed of 5 thin, curved petals. This plant grows from a vigorous basal rosette, of slightly toothed, light green, heart-shaped leaves with a fine texture. The flowering stems are branched and bear alternate and toothed, very fine leaves, up to the flowers. This plant has stolons that root and give rise to new herbaceous stems.

Plant the Blue Octopus Bellflower at the edge of a flower bed, alongside lobelias, shrub roses, phlox, and Silene schafta. Pair it with Oenothera fruticosa, a superb yellow, or with orange Crocosmia such as Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora or Crocosmia masoniorum; the combination is vibrant, striking, and very attractive, the slightly invasive nature of Crocosmia does not bother this bellflower at all, often resurfacing in the middle of their clumps. Of course, it can also be associated with roses like Little White Pet, a modest-sized rose covered in white-pink pompon flowers, to enhance its romantic aspect. For variations in blues, pair it with Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' or 'Walker's Low,' which form a mass of delicate and blooming foliage, with the Blue Octopus Bellflower standing tall.