Platycodons (Balloon Flowers): Number 7 in a Garden Photo Series

Also known As Balloon Flowers!

Named Balloon Flower because they look like hot air balloons, platycodons may be blue, pink, or white.

Also called the Chinese Bell Flower, Platycodons' unique blooms have the amazing habit of forming a fat bud, then blowing up like a balloon before unfurling their petals into a crisp 5-point star shaped like a cup.

Being one of the delights of my garden, I look forward to them each year because their behavior is so striking. Their five petaled balloons bloom into beautiful stars. They are astonishing to most visitors, particularly children who often want to touch them with one tiny finger.

Kids seem to simply accept the fact that this is just the way Balloon Flowers were created and go on to enjoy them. Adults who have never seen them before always insist on knowing what they are. Without fail, everyone is curious about Platycodons!

While I have an affinity for white flowers, and I do hope to grow white platycodons one day, the brilliance of this blue is not very common. My Mariesii is a stand out no matter what else it is planted with. There is another blue that is a dwarf (like the white) and I am thinking of mixing them in a bed in the near future.

I’ve read that Balloon Flowers are delicate plants, but mine have proved to be very hardy, even recovering well when someone who shall remain unnamed stumbled and dropped a package large enough to turn the pot that the balloon flowers were growing in completely over and roll it into a stand of creeping phlox. I’m glad I saw the event, for I would have found it hard to believe otherwise.

In that tipsy pot, my first blue balloons of this season were beginning to open under the podocarpus they have been growing with for several years now. I’ve divided them once, and hope to again this year. They grow well from seed, and I plan to harvest those for the first time. I’ve never tried to grow them from cuttings, but it is my understanding that it can be done.

Although these flowers can be encouraged to rebloom by deadheading the plants, Balloon Flowers do have a fairly short bloom season in my area. I’ve decided to try to grow them in several places throughout my front islands in order to get as much impact as possible from their showtime. I especially want to start a stand in view of my kitchen window in which they can multiply at will.

Native as far north as Siberia, they do well in many areas, but are generally hardy in zones 3-8. They like moist soil that drains well, making them great companions for other plants in pots. I’m training my podocarpus into a topiary shape and the platycodons do a great job of filling in around its base.

I hope you enjoy the photo montage. I put it together before their trip across the lawn. I enjoyed trying to catch them in that afternoon's lighting. Too bad I didn’t catch their journey of that very evening on camera!

Be sure to check out the video of a Balloon Flower opening too. It’s pretty incredible. If you want to hear more about growing this flowering perennial, catch the video above the comments.

Enjoy a closer look at the happy balloon flower (platycodons) and see if you might be able to include them in your garden! You'll find them to be a faithful friend.

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