Bellflowers, named for the shape of their five-petaled flowers, which looks like dangling bells, can produce blue or purple flowers, but they can also be pink, white, or lilac.
Popular Bellflower flower meanings include affection, everlasting love, constancy, delicacy, and humility. You can also use a bell flower to thank you and show gratitude.
About the Bellflower
The bellflower – Campanula – is native to temperate climates in Africa, the Mediterranean, and Asia – Western and Northern. This name comes from campana, which is Latin for bell. And campanula is the Latin word for little bell.
Bellflower campanulas belong to the Campanulaceae family, which has nearly 500 species of plants in different colors and sizes. Bell flowers classify as annuals, biannuals, and perennials. Other names for the Bellflower are Ladybell, Campanula Venus, and Looking Glass.
History and Origins
There are many origin stories about the beautiful Bellflower. However, the most popular legend revolves around mythology and the Goddess of beauty and love – Venus.
Venus was shallow and vain due to her intense beauty and her obsession with looking at her reflection in a magic mirror that only showed a person’s beauty.
One day she lost the mirror, which an unassuming young boy found. As he looked into the mirror, overwhelming feelings washed over him, making him decide to keep the mirror.
Venus requested the help of Cupid to find her mirror, which he did. But it was too late, for all of his pleadings with the shepherd boy to return the looking glass failed. He had fallen under the mirror’s spell and could not bear to give it back.
To get the boy to give the mirror back, Cupid shot the kid in the hand so he would drop the mirror. But instead, the boy released the glass, which shattered as it hit the ground. Everywhere a piece of the glass landed, a bellflower grew.
Characteristics
Bell flowers have a tubular shape in the form of a bell, giving these plants their common name. The flower can also vary from a star, saucer, or cup shape.
These flowers form in loose clusters at the end of stems that grow from a few inches to six feet tall, with dark green foliage.
Bellflower Care
The specific growth requirements vary by campanula flower species. They do best in normal, clay, or sandy, moist soil. Your plants will need water as they dry out, usually twice daily. But the bellflower flower cannot tolerate the soil drying out.
A bellflower plant does not have preferences for sun exposure and can tolerate part shade to full sun and any soil pH in USDA hardiness zones 5 through 9. Adding organic mulch around the plant helps the soil drain better and prevents weed growth.
Uses Throughout History
Campaulas have been used medicinally for hundreds of years. It can treat ailments like ear pain. Steeping the roots to make a broth worked as a treatment for stomach aches, sore throats, oral inflammation, lung and heart disorders, and skin conditions.
Every part of the Campanula plant is edible and provides rich nutrition. The leaves can substitute for leafy green vegetables rich in Vitamin C. The young shoots can be prepared like asparagus, blanched, and then cooked.
Today’s most common use is for ornamental purposes, as these dainty flowers make an excellent site for landscaping. They’re also a great plant for attracting pollinators and bees.
Bellflower Symbolism
The campanula plant has multiple symbolisms, making it useful to convey various unspoken messages. For example, potential campanula bellflower meanings include everlasting love, humility, gratitude, and attractiveness.
Etymological Meaning
The reason behind the bell-flower name is evident in the flower’s overlapping petal shape. But less obvious is the meaning of campanulas, which is little bell in Latin.
Gratitude
Bluebells can be a way to send the unspoken message of thanks, making them a beautiful sign of gratitude.
Constancy and Support
These flowers are also linked to constancy, possibly dating back to Corinthians 1:13. This verse symbolizes love as an eternal ring in the form of a bellflower.
Everlasting Love
Campanulas also represent everlasting love and are a suitable gift for someone you’ll be with forever. It’s a popular choice for weddings.
Bellflower Color Meaning
Most campanulas are purple bell flowers or blue bellflower. But there are also campanula white and pink campanula, but there are no red bellflowers.
White
White bell flowers are symbolic of pure meanings like purity and innocence. A white bell flower can also mean spirituality. But white campanula also has connections to sympathy and grief.
In Victorian times, bouquets and floral arrangements of bell flowers white expressed gratitude. So, a white bellflower could symbolize both sympathy and spirituality.
Blue
Blue is another of the most popular bell flower colors, being one of the few naturally blue flowers found in nature. Blue is a color most associated with the sky and sea.
Therefore, it’s an excellent flower color to symbolize inspiration, freedom, imagination, open spaces, and intuition. It can also represent healing, success, and spiritual development.
Purple
The purple bell flower is one of the most historic and popular colors. It can represent wisdom, romance, bravery, and spirituality. It’s also a sign of success and wealth.
Pink
A pink bell flower is typically symbolic of romance and love. It’s a sure sign of everlasting love. But it can also mean platonic love due to its associations with compassion, nurturance, and kindness.
Bellflower FAQ
Learn more with these frequently asked questions about the bellflower.
When Should You Give Someone a Bellflower?
Bellflowers are suitable for weddings, date night bouquets, thank you or show gratitude, celebrating a birthday, or saying get well or congratulations on success.
Are Bellflowers Fragrant?
The bellflower has a slight fragrance that can nearly be undetectable.
What Does a Bellflower Tattoo Represent?
A bellflower tattoo can mean spirituality such as growth or transformation, overcoming adversity and hardships, endurance, faith, tenacity, perseverance, and humility.
Are Bellflowers Poisonous?
Campanula is not toxic to people or pets. But some species can cause sensitive children and pets to experience mild irritation.
Final Thoughts
Campanula plants can have multiple colored bell-shaped flowers, with the most common colors being blue or purple. The most common bellflower meaning is gratitude. Other blue bell flower meanings are support, constancy, and everlasting love.