Terra's Garden
Monthly Column by Terra Hangen

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”
    -Mark Twain

Spring fever for gardeners means we are out working and playing in our gardens. When gardening fever strikes, put some whimsy in your garden by planting bell flowers. Flowers that nod in the breeze on graceful stems and look like dainty bells include Lily of the Valley, Pieris shrub, Fox-Bells, Balloon Flowers, Abutilons, Coral Bells and Blue Bells. These bells bring an inaudible song to your garden that will touch your soul.

The poet in Song of Songs wrote joyously of spring as a season of singing, and your bell flowers ring to provide the soul music of the season. “See! The winter is past, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth, and the season of singing has come” (Song of Songs 2:11-12).

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) are very modest, sweet plants, that bow their stems loaded with charming clusters of tiny white bells. Does everyone associate Lily of the Valley with their grandmothers? Plant the pips, as the roots are called, in the spring or fall. Lily of the Valley does best where it won’t be trod upon. These flowers are also called Our Lady’s Tears, in honor of Mary’s tears at the foot of the cross turning into these white blossoms. Hardy to zone 7 (5 degrees F.)

Growing on the grounds of my church is a six feet tall Pieris shrub covered with white bells that look like Lily of the Valley, which explains its common name “Lily of the Valley Bush”. My Pieris bush, Forest Flame, has a home in the semi-shady part of my garden. The early spring foliage is bright red, this variety can reach seven feet, is slow growing, and hardy to zone 5.

Fox-bells is an antique nickname for Foxglove (Digitalis). The flowers are shaped like long tubular bells. According to an old Norwegian legend, which calls this plant Revbjolla or Fox-bell, foxes wore the flowers and the eerie sound of the bells ringing would save the fox, by scaring away the hunters who collected fox tails for good luck. Hardy to zone 7.

Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) have one inch inflated balloon like buds just asking to be “popped” by a child’s fingers, and my mom always let me pop one or two. They come in light blue-purple, in pink and white. They bloom from mid-July to late August on stalks two to three feet tall. “Shell Pink” and “Mother of Pearl” are two pale pink varieties I recommend. Hardy to zone 7.

A shrub with bright yellow, pink, red or white hanging bell flowers is the Abutilon (Malvaceae). Nicknames include Flowering maple, Chinese bellflower, and Chinese lanterns. The shrub can reach ten feet tall, and the dwarf 18-24 inch tall. I have a Dame Vanessa dwarf, with flowers the color of sunshine, hardy to zone 8 (10 degrees F).

Coral Bells (Heuchera), native to North America, have lovely clouds of white or pink flowers dancing on long stems. Heuchera Palace Purple has deep purple leaves with white flowers, and prefers part shade. Coral Bells are well-suited for borders and rock gardens. The new Ginger Ale Coral Bells has amber leaves with a silvery sheen and ginger yellow and pink bells on 22 inch stems, and is ideal for a dark garden corner. Zone 4-9.

Bellflower, the genus Campanula, contains 300 species, with my favorite being Canterbury Bells. Campanula is Latin meaning little bells. Canterbury Bells were named for their resemblance to the bells pilgrims carried on their way to worship at St. Thomas’ shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. Hardy to zone 7.

Canterbury Bells are biennials and produce flowers their second year, so either buy the plants already growing, or if you plant seeds so you can select colors, you will wait till year two for flowers. There are also creeping Campanulas, including Campanula garganica, which forms a gray-green cushion 4 inches tall and 2 feet across.

The Serbian Bellflower (C. poscharskyana) is more rugged, will sprawl, tolerate dry conditions, and produces masses of blue purple star flowers on foot tall stems. If you cut the spent flowers, they will rebloom off and on till frost.

Bells in your garden can be a great joy magnet, and a source of fun for children and adults, as they search for and find bell flowers.

About the Author: For more of Terra Hangen's garden tidbits, fun garden photos of her black squirrel friend, tips for beginning writers, and a glimpse into her own journey as a writer visit her blog at http://terragarden.blogspot.com. She is celebrating the publication of her first book, Scrapbook of Christmas Firsts, written with 6 Christian writer friends, and scheduled for publication Oct. 2008 by Leafwood Publishers.