Do you want to be among the first flower farmers in America to grow a new, cutting-edge crop? Now is your chance!

These Campanula could hardly be newer. They're almost too new. They're so new the breeder hasn't had a chance to property photograph them yet, but at least we have a few photos to give you an idea. 

As this is a trial of a very new hybrid, success is not guaranteed. Please read all information below.

Learn More and Shop New Campanula 

Four of these are from the 'Evergreen' series and two are stand alone double white varieties. As with many green flowers, these are green because some of the petal tissue has mutated to leaf tissue. This not only gives you a green color it adds substance and longevity to the flower even after cutting. Unlike standard seed grown campanula varieties, these should be cut when several flowers are open. If they are visited by bees, they will not fade, unlike standard varieties. The flower will start green, and then take on a flush of color around the edges and then slowly fade back to green over it's 2-3 week lifespan. The blossoms will last on the plant for up to a month before harvest.

The white varieties, Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc, have a more typical petal texture and lifespan. They should be harvested when the first blossom opens.

All of these are capable of hitting 24" with some of them reaching more than 36" when happy.

Unlike the Champion series, these are true biennials, and need an actual consistently cold winter to flower properly. If you tend to have lots of oddly warm days throughout your winter, these may not be for you. Those odd warm days will undo the chilling received by the plant so they won't flower.

So who should try these?

These would be best suited to the cold outer beds of tunnel growers in the north. Ideally growers will be able to vent their greenhouses on sunny winter days to maintain the chill in the air and the soil. They may also perform well in the field, especially in high snow fall areas. Repeated freezing and thawing without snow cover would not be appreciated by this series.

Schedule

These ship in weeks 43 and 44 only, you choose. Ideally you will plant them immediately on arrival and let them establish for about 3 weeks under ambient or slightly warmer conditions to get some good root development forming. Starting around Thanksgiving they need to be kept below 40F for 12 or more weeks. Colder is fine (down to 20F and colder should be no problem). After Valentine's Day you can start to let your tunnel warm up with the lengthening days. It may be possible to grow these in crates that are kept in the greenhouse for 12 weeks below 40F, but this is uncharted territory!

Spacing and culture

I recommend 12" spacing to allow these to achieve their maximum potential. They can produce 7-8 stems per plant and you need to give them the space to do so. Closer spacing is possible but yield will be reduced. In March or April when you start to see flower spikes emerge, pinch out the initial spike when it is just a couple of inches tall. This will allow the side shoots to begin growing and ultimately achieve full height. If you do not pinch, you will mostly likely see 1 very large stem form, which will be lovely but it will be difficult for you to recoup the initial investment.

These Campanula are in commercial production in Holland, where they are also very new, so they do perform, and there is a market. But as with any new crop proceed with informed caution and be sure you can offer them the best chance at success possible.

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