My Platycodon

My Balloon flowers are in full bloom and the bees are in their glory!

I have both white and purple AND they've crossed over the years to give me some interesting and unique color combinations.  Really, no two are the same.  I've seen pink balloon flowers on the Google machine too, which would be a nice color to add to my garden one day.

Here is how they got their name -

Here's one opening but not quite there yet -

Tada, fully open and ready for "beesness" - 

Here are some pics of the random and cool color combinations - 

Some folks, my kids when younger, liked to "pop" these flowers, which made the gardener very upset...

#Blessed

Elmer Fudd, Where Are You?!

Here is a pic of what a nice health clump of balloon flowers looks like.  This one is about 3' tall now, which will grow to about 4'-5', nice and thick and green.  This particular clump is in the pool area and always has done great with plenty of flowers.

I have other clumps too throughout the yard and they've also done great, when left alone.

Here is a picture of what the wild rabbits have done to, what was a couple of nice thick clumps of balloon flowers.  The darn rodents simply destroy them, eating most of the leaves and chewing off some of the stems too.  They also have done a number on my black-eyed Susan's and hostas too, UGH!

I'm not sure if it was the relatively mild winter we had but there are oodles and oodles of wild rabbits this year.  Where are all the hawks I had out back over the winter or the other predator's like foxes?  I need help in regulating these vermin, as I can't do it all by myself...or maybe I can!

Here is an older picture of a balloon flower ballooned up and ready to open -

And here's a unique flower opened up -

The bees love these flowers and are always busy flying in and out of each all summer long.

Garden Uniqueness

The Platycodon grandiflorus or balloon flower is another easy perennial to grow.  They self-seed with seeds from spent bosoms and take very little care.  They do get quite tall and tend to flop and fall all over, so staking or planting in self masses to support themselves is a good idea.

The bees go cuckoo over the flowers and busily hop from one to the other to another.

Our solid whites and purples seem to have mixed over the years and we now are interesting mixed colors and fashions. 

Balloon flower before opening - 

Balloon flower opened -

Had to keep the kids from squeezing and popping the balloons when they were younger.  Like bubble wrap, they found some weird enjoyment from squeezing and popping.

Our Unique Platycodon!

Here's a sampling of our Balloon flowers!

We have solid white, solid purple and a cool variety of these two colors mixed.

The honey and bumble bees love them too.

I can remember when the kids were younger, much younger they loved to pop these once ballooned up.  Of course my head would pop when they would do that...

Wanted - White Lamb's Ear Plant

I believe this is a White Lamb's Ear plant, however, my Google searches are not finding this plant nor is it finding the Pink Lamb's Ear plant, of which we have oodles.

This lone plant pictured above is growing all alone in a garden not too far from our house. It would make a nice addition to the same pink plants we have.

So, if you or someone you know has any of this purdy flower available, for sale or trade, we'd be interested. Also, if this is not a Lamb's Ear plant and you know what it is, enlighten me please!

Balloon Flowers 2008

Balloon Flower (Chinese Bellflower) - Platycodon grandiflorus

We have an abundance of these flowers growing in and around our pool area - the pictures below are just a few. They've been reseeding and multiplying all on their own these past few years and look quite nice now that they're blooming and mixed in with the other flowers, i.e. purple cone flower and black-eyed Susan's, which are also in full bloom. We have white and blue with some cross pollinating too, which produced some interested combinations last year. Actually, last year Emilie enjoyed popping these when in the balloon phase. I've not caught her doing it this year and can only hope that she's got this out of her system.

Before -

After -

Before -

After -

Balloon flowers are one of the easiest perennials you'll ever grow, and they bloom in profusion in mid to late summer, when many other perennials are beginning to fade. You won't find a more carefree perennial!

Bellflower Interesting Tip:
To make the flowers last in the vase, sear the stems with a match or candle flame immediately after cutting.

Bellflower Interesting Fact:
The root of this species (radix platycodi) is used extensively in Asia as an anti-inflammatory in the treatment of coughs and colds. In Korea the plant is known as doraji and its root, either dried or fresh, is a popular ingredient in salads and traditional herbal cooking. However, Chinese bellflower and Korean bellflower are different. Chinese bellflower is used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Money Plant - Lunaria biennis

Money Plant, Honesty, Bolbonac, Moonwort, Satin flower, Penny flower, Judas' penny, Silver Dollar & Lunaria biennis (to be horticulturally correct)

Here is a picture of the Silver Dollar seedlings I recently planted. This picture is a couple weeks old and the plants are much bigger today, yippie! My green thumbs needs some tuning as only 9 of the 16 seeds came up, alas. I've always wanted to start some of these plants and get them into our landscaping. I guess I've finally accomplished that; well the first stage anyway. Sadly, this is a close to owning a money tree as I'll ever get...

Plant Information and Interesting Facts:

Mauve-purple or white flowers that grows 2 to 3 feet tall. The flowers appear in May – June and the seeds come into their own in the end of July, beginning of August.

Plant in a mostly sunny or partly shady location. Plants thrive with neglect in average garden soil. Cut stems of plants as soon as seed pods start to turn brown. Strip leaves from plants and hang small bunches of plants upside down in a dry, shady spot. You may also need to carefully rub off outside of pod to reveal the silvery center. Technically a biennial – meaning it grows leaves the first year and flowers the second. After flowering, it dies. Luckily it seldom needs help as it can reseed itself through the garden quite aggressively.

This heirloom has been popular in winter arrangements since colonial times. Money plant was introduced to England from Germany in the late 1500s and brought to America by the Puritans.

Balloon Flower (Chinese Bellflower)

Balloon Flower (Chinese Bellflower)

Platycodon grandiflorus

This heavy bloomer gets its name from the way each flower bud swells before its starry petals unfold. Although the Latin name means 'bell,' the flower shape is really more of a star once open. The upward-facing flowers bloom throughout the summer and into early fall in shades of blue, pink and white.

The above pictures were taken in our back yard by JoAnne just the other day. We've had Balloon flowers for years; since we moved into the house actually. We have white ones and blue one; I've never seen a pink one, and they come up on their own faithfully each and every year with zero maintenance and care. However, as you can see from these pictures we have several plants that have hybridized into an awesome white and blue combination. I plan on marking these plant, perhaps with bread ties, so we can identify them once the flowers have passed and save their seeds in the hope of growing more next year. Who knows if these can be reproduced and catch on maybe they can be named after me. Something catchy like 'Wonderful Stephan' or 'Stunning Stephan'; you know something appropriate...

We have one other small issue with these flowers, well actually with Emilie. She loves to squeeze and pop the buds once they've swelled! We're trying to be a stop to this but she forgets sometimes and when she gets caught it lands her in 'time out' and a lose of ice cream for that night. We'll see how well this works.