Although Campanula medium is a beautiful cutflower which should not be left out of any summer bouquet, it has one disadvantage: a biennial cultivation period in the Greenhouse, making it too expensive. It therefore never finds its way to the consumer. This has all changed with the new "Champion Series". 'Champion Blue' and 'Champion Pink' were entered in Fleuroselect's first cutflower trials and walked away with the Gold Medal. Not only the short cultivation period, but also the wonderful flowers, impressive uniformity and high productivity make 'Champion Blue' and 'Champion Pink' first class cutflowers and rightful recipients of Gold. They will certainly improve the popularity of Campanulas as cutflowers.
In detail
The Campanula is native to middle and southern Europe, where it establishes itself in the mild winters, flowering with its beautiful bell-shaped flowers the following summer. It is this biennial characteristic that made the attractive Campanula medium less suitable for professional cutflower propagation. While the crop is relative straightforward to grow, a cultivation period of 12 months(!) made the flower uninteresting for the grower and too expensive for the consumer. With one fell swoop, the new 'Champion Series' wipes out this objection to Campanula medium. It can be grown from seed as an annual to bloom in 15 weeks(!). Each plant gives 8 to 10 stems. Spaced at 25 cm this gives 130 to 160 beautiful flowers per square meter, each with 12 to 15 flower bells of 4 cm in diameter. Currently 2 colours are available, dark blue and clear pink. These attractively coloured flowers are regular and have a long vase life. In addition to the economic and emotional reasons to grow Campanula 'Champion Pink' and 'Champion Blue', the technical aspects will also appeal to the grower. The "Champions" combine a low heat requirement and a short growth period with a culture which is relatively simple and low labour intensive. What the Florist should do with the flowers? Well, that speaks for itself when you look at the photograph.