{"id":117,"date":"2008-10-03T08:06:05","date_gmt":"2008-10-03T16:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/garden\/?p=117"},"modified":"2015-11-24T07:33:01","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T15:33:01","slug":"balloon-flower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/balloon-flower\/","title":{"rendered":"Balloon Flower"},"content":{"rendered":"

BALLOON FLOWER
\n<\/font><\/font><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Envy may be a sin, but it is also one of mankind’s most popular hobbies.\u00a0 Every day we envy each other’s homes, gadgets, cars and clothes.\u00a0 In this respect I am no better than anyone else.\u00a0 At least once a week during the growing season I suffer from a bout of plant envy.\u00a0 If I were unscrupulous, I would steal plants.\u00a0 When I am impoverished, I suffer in silence.\u00a0 If I am doing business as usual, I generally make a note in my garden diary, wait until the end-of-season plant sales and try to find the object of my fascination.\u00a0 If I am successful, I grow the sale plant until it is of sufficient size to divide, split it into pieces, cultivate the divisions and divide again when the time comes.\u00a0 Eventually I my garden is so full of the coveted plants that others can envy me.\u00a0 <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For years I envied a gardener down the street who had an impressive array of dwarf balloon flower or Platycodon grandiflorus Mariesii in her front border.\u00a0 These foot-high lovelies bloom in the late summer or early fall, with characteristic balloon-shaped buds that open into five-petaled, bell-shaped flowers.\u00a0 The blooms, which are almost flat when fully open, are a vibrant blue-purple and seem to last a long time.\u00a0 Of course, things that you covet have a habit of confronting you at every turn, so I can’t swear to the long-lasting part. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Several years ago, I found a balloon flower on sale.\u00a0 It wasn’t the Mariesii variety, but I was desperate, and it was only two dollars, and I bought it anyway.\u00a0 The plant that I acquired so cheaply was ‘Hakone White’, a tall, double-flowered variety with white blooms.\u00a0 I planted ‘Hakone White’ and it succeeded very well–at least for the first few years.\u00a0 Then something unexpected–at least by me–happened.\u00a0 The little maple tree that was growing many feet from the bed where I planted the balloon flower had a growth spurt and suddenly the balloon flower was in light shade during a part of the day.\u00a0 It didn’t seem to mind terribly and continued to flourish.\u00a0 Now, a few years later, the maple has continued to flourish but the balloon flower has begun to show signs of disliking the encroaching shade.\u00a0 The blooms are fewer and the already lanky stalks are lankier.\u00a0 I knew it was time to return the plant to the sun, which I did, swapping its spot with that of a ligularia that was burning up in a too-sunny spot.\u00a0 Hopefully next season both the balloon flower and the ligularia will be happier.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the meantime, I finally found a Mariesii-type balloon flower at a plant sale.\u00a0 I snapped it up.\u00a0 It is just like the ones down the street, so in a few years I will have a display to rival my neighbor’s.\u00a0 While I was scouting out the perfect spot for my new acquisition, I happened to think that if, for some reason, I couldn’t find the perfect spot; I could probably find the perfect pot.\u00a0 With its short stature and bright flowers, my Mariesii would make a great container subject.\u00a0 Other balloon flowers that are perfect for containers include: ‘Astra White’, ‘Astra Pink’ and ‘Sentimental Blue’.\u00a0 The Astra series plants are about ten inches tall, the blue cultivar is even shorter, at six to eight inches. \u00a0‘Fairy Snow’ is another compact white variety that is veined in blue. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Balloon flowers are great plants no matter where you put them.\u00a0 If the ‘Hakone White’ takes hold in its new home, I would like to add ‘Shell Pink’, a tall variety with pale pink blooms.\u00a0 Hybridizers, especially in Europe, have taken to Platycodon grandiflorus, so there are a number of hybrids on the market.\u00a0 Lovers of double-flowered varieties can rejoice in ‘Double Blue’ and ‘Double White’.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Platycodons need sun and the usual well-drained soil.\u00a0 If you plant them this fall and nothing comes up next spring, don’t be discouraged.\u00a0 They are generally among the last plants to come up in the spring, but will come on strong once they decide to emerge from the soil.\u00a0 The taller varieties often need staking, so put up your stakes and string or grow-through plant supports early, so as not to disturb the somewhat temperamental stalks later.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you have children, grandchildren or neighbors’ children who are into gardening, they will love the “balloons”\u009d on the ripening flower buds.\u00a0 Like snapdragons, they invite touching, though children should be cautioned to touch them and all flowers gently.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You can usually find balloon flowers in local nurseries and if you are lucky, like I was, you might even find them on sale.\u00a0 Mail order sources abound, including Forestfarm, 990 Tetherow Road, Williams, OR 97544, (541) 846-7269 or www.forestfarm.com.<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BALLOON FLOWER \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Envy may be a sin, but it is also one of mankind’s most popular hobbies.\u00a0 Every day we envy each other’s homes, gadgets, cars and clothes.\u00a0 In this respect I am no better than anyone else.\u00a0 At least once a week during the growing season I suffer from a bout of plant … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}