Hot and Dry with a Strong Chance of Balloons

The more I grow balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus), the more it impresses me.

We only had two days of rain all of September.

Temperatures were way above normal. (Or perhaps this is the 'new normal'?)

So it was hot, dry, sunny and I rarely watered.

Many plants would wilt or go dormant. Some would give up the ghost. But not balloon flower - it kept sailing through, pushing out more and more cheerful, cooling blue flowers.

These flowers are not exactly pollinator magnets, but they do attract some creatures.

Can you spot the tiny pollinator here?

In my experience, balloon flower has a very long blooming season, but it tends to slow down in midsummer. If you cut (or break) the stems way back, it will soon regrow and rebloom.

Individual plants seem to be long-lived. They don't spread through rhizomes, though clumps can get bigger over time. Balloon flower does self-sow. These volunteers are amenable to transplantation and they're not hard to pull if you find yourself with too many balloons!

Lotsa Balloons!

Probably not 99 balloons here, but still quite a few...

The balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are reblooming!

In my experience, balloon flowers bloom for months (pretty much all of June and July this year, I think) and if you deadhead them consistently, they'll bloom well into autumn.

Now that's a long bloom season!

Deadheading is not my favorite garden activity, but I think I'm willing to make an exception for balloon flowers because they are otherwise such cheery, tough, carefree, long-lived plants.

(Also, it's not such a chore to deadhead balloon flower compared to deadheading some other plants. The flowers bloom on tall spikes, so you can cut off an entire spike rather than trying to snip an individual spent flowerhead.)

And while I rarely saw any pollinators visiting the balloon flowers in prior years, I've seen quite a few pollinators of all shapes and sizes visiting the balloon flowers this year now that the original clumps have gotten larger and the balloon flowers have even self-sowed a bit here and there.

Besides, who doesn't love balloons? :)

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Winter Gets in One More Punch

Screenshot from NOAA

Uh oh.

Tonight's forecast low is 39 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tomorrow night we're expected to drop to 29.

Wednesday night could see a chilly 38.


It's the frosty Tuesday night forecast that's got me concerned. The warm weather over the past few days (temperatures around 80 degrees Friday, Saturday and Sunday) induced many of the plants that had stayed safely dormant through an interminable winter to unfurl new leaves and flowers.

Fothergilla in full bloom. Will these flowers withstand a brief spell at 29 degrees?

I'm worried there will be significant damage to all this tender new growth if and when temps dip below freezing tomorrow night.

Creamy nodding aquilegia flowers come have started to bloom

New leaves on the Natchez crape myrtle, one of the last trees in our area to leaf out.

Typically, I aspire to be a Darwinian gardener, prizing plants tough enough to survive on their own. But this time, I think I might just intervene a wee bit and use overturned clay pots to cover Balloon Flower and Baptisia australis.

Fresh bright green growth on Balloon Flower (Platycodon). I think I will try covering this plant with an overturned pot tomorrow afternoon to retain some heat overnight.

Do you have any experience with late frosts and freezes? 

If so, which of your plants have come through unscathed and which have suffered major (or minor) damage?

I took lots more photos this evening. Stay tuned for another post toward the end of this week showing which plants sailed through without a scratch and which ones took it on the chin.

Balloons in the Garden!

Balloon flower buds. You can see where the plant got its name.

OK, actually it's Balloon Flower (a.k.a. Platycodon grandiflorus).

Here's what I know about it:

- It's native to Eastern Asia (China, Korea, Japan and Siberia)

- It is hardy to zone 3, but it can also take the heat of a Tennessee summer

- It can take sun or partial shade. I have two balloon flowers planted in morning sun and one that gets a lot of sun throughout the day (with some intermittent shade from a nearby crape myrtle)

- It can grow 18-36 inches tall. I'd say none of mine are over 12-inches at the moment and one that I planted this spring is blooming even though it's only about 6-inches tall. But the one that I planted last autumn is much taller this year than last, so I'm guessing it gets bigger and bushier as the plant gets older.

Balloon Flower just beginning to open.

- It is considered a long-lived perennial (i.e. 15 years or more)

- It has a tap root that makes it drought-tolerant, but that means it dislikes being transplanted or divided. In other words, just put it where you want it and leave it alone to do its thing.

- Reportedly it prefers well-drained soil, but ours are doing well in semi-amended clay.

- The plant is herbaceous. It dies to the ground in winter and is a little slow to emerge in the spring. I can't recall exactly when it emerged, but I do remember I was worried as to whether it would ever reappear. You may want to mark the spot where it's sitting dormant underground so you don't accidentally dig it up if you are planting in that bed in the spring.

And here's a fully-opened Balloon Flower!

- The plant is supposed to bloom for 4-8 weeks starting in early summer. Sure enough, two of our three balloon flowers started blooming around May 24th. I'll try to post an update later to let you know whether they did indeed bloom throughout June and July. Some sources say that cutting the plant back to the ground when blooms cease may prompt regrowth and an autumn rebloom. I might try that.

- Some sources say the flowers are supposed to attract butterflies. Sadly, I have not yet seen butterflies (or any other pollinators) on our balloon flowers.

- Kitazawa says that the plant is known in Japan as "Toraji" and that the root is eaten there fresh or dried and valued for its medicinal anti-inflammatory properties. I have not tried that so I cannot vouch for the accuracy of those claims. 

- Bountiful Gardens says Platycodon is used in teas and syrups for coughs, and for soups and salads as a medicinal food. Again, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this claim and would suggest that you refrain from consuming any part of Platycodon unless you can find proof to your own satisfaction that portions of the plant are safe to ingest.

- Update 6/10 5 p.m.: Want to hear something really confusing? Near as I can tell (from Wikipedia and other sources), the Koreans also eat the root of Platycodon grandiflorus and they call the root "doraji". But there is also an unrelated Korean Bellflower also called "doraji"! No idea whether the roots of that 'other' doraji are edible. That's why it's best to use Latin names when talking about plants - particularly plants you're thinking about eating - to make sure you don't confuse an edible plant with a toxic one that happens to have the same common name. In any case, personally, I don't have any plans to try eating Platycodon grandiflorus or using it medicinally. First of all, the medicinal benefits sound unconvincing. Second, some sources list Platycodon as being toxic - at least the basal foliage and perhaps the root too!? Finally, the preparation process to render doraji edible sounds arduous and lengthy for a dish described as having a taste that is not "particularly pleasurable". In short, I think I'll continue to think of Platycodon strictly as an ornamental plant for now.

- Some sources say that Platycodon may self-sow politely. I have not seen any evidence of that yet, but I'd certainly be happy to get some volunteers.

Overall, I've found this to be a lovely plant so far. It seems very tough and trouble-free. The foliage looks great - so far I have not had any issues with pests or diseases. The buds are lots of fun as they swell into their balloon shape and the flower is beautiful when it does unfold. I'd say the self-cleaning flowers last for the better part of a week.

In conclusion, I wish the plant offered more wildlife benefits for bees, butterflies or birds, but from an aesthetic (and perhaps medicinal/edible standpoint), it's certainly a nice plant that I think could and should be used by more gardeners looking for a charming and reliable perennial.