Colours and shapes
Campanula is a familiar garden plant that also does well indoors and flowers profusely with distinctive flowers that are highly decorative. Depending on the species, the plant produces white, pink, lilac or purple bells with five petals. The flowers can be attached to dangling tendrils, but can also bloom on top of the plant. The foliage can consist of fresh green spikes or can be soft and herbaceous. The best-known member of the group is probably the Star of Bethlehem, a living room classic.
Origin
Campanula is a member of the bellflower family (Campanulaceae). The plant grows in the moderate climatic regions in the northern hemisphere. The mountainous regions around the Mediterranean and in the Caucasus are home to a large number of species, of which some 300 are known. As a houseplant Campanula can cope with an indoor climate, and it can also go outdoors in spring and summer.
Symbolism
In northern Italy Campanula often forms a natural hanging carpet over rock formations. It’s reminiscent of Rapunzel’s hair, which hung so temptingly from her tower window in the Grimm fairy-tale. This may be why rampion is known in Dutch as the ‘Rapunzel bellflower’. The plant symbolises attractiveness and growing up.
