American Bellflower is a unique, easy to grow native wildflower that begs the question: why don’t we see more of this in the ornamental plant trades?

It grows wonderfully in a garden and makes a unique cut flower, reaching up to 4' in full sun or part shade. Expect a rosette of heart-shaped leaves followed by a branching 3-4’ main stem loaded with some of the most unusual, iridescent violet flowers, which are open-faced - a rarity among Campanulas. Flowers feature white lining around the throat and the pointed, crinkled petal tips, and tend to be more profuse in full-sun. Pinching encourages slightly smaller plants with more equally sized flowering stems.

This plant is highly adaptable - it can outcross when pollinators are abundant, or self-pollinate if they are not, and behaves as either an annual or biennial depending on when seeds germinate. In the garden, it’s a confident self-seeder that shines in matrix plantings, or planted in masses. Though short-lived, it will likely return year after year without becoming a 'weed' problem, easily holding its own among other plants in the 2–4’ range. Though it prefers part shade, we’ve seen it growing happily in full sun.

Native to woodland edges and partially shaded stream banks across much of eastern North America, this plant plays an important ecological role for long-tongued pollinators and a specialist native bee, Megachile campanulae. Though widespread overall, it’s considered endangered in New York, South Carolina, and Louisiana - making it an especially meaningful addition to native gardens.