5/26/2023 Updated From time to time
I bought a Pink Balloon Flower Platycodon grandiflorus at a local nursery called Long Fellows in the spring 2022 because I was impressed by how it looked and how large the flowers grew on such a small plant. I noticed that it was native to China and it could definitely survive in a cold winter climate. I overwintered the pot in the garage. The plant remained potted for the first 2 years. The Pink Balloon Flower turns white as it ages. I found the Pink Balloon Flower pink seeds for sale at Diane’s Flower Seeds. I have placed an order with them for 2025. I have more tips about growing Balloon Flowers from Seed at the end of this article.
It’s been a trouble free plant, but it may be prone to fungal issues. It had a fungus that was turning the leaves yellow, but I cleared it up. Platycodon grandiflorus is easier to find in purple but I think the pink ones are much nicer looking. Purple is actually a fairly common color in botany and it’s easy to get purple flowers. Blue is actually one of the hardest colors to achieve in flower growing. I believe this has something to do with bees can’t see blue very well.
Pink and Blue Flowers remind me of Easter Eggs. Unfortunately Asiatic Day Flower Commelina communis could become invasive. It is not normally sold in nurseries for that reason. I got mine as a rider plant inside the pot of a plant I bought at Missouri Wildflower Nursery. At first I thought it was a native spiderwort, but the color is blue and not purple.
The Pink Balloon Flower turns white as it ages.
Asiatic Day Flower is the true blue and is easily confused with Spiderwort which is purple. As the summer progressed I had to remove the Asiatic Day Flower even though I think its awesome because it began to be a bit invasive, but it is easy to destroy.
Pink Balloon Flower First Year
Compare the colors of the Ohio Spiderwort to the Asiatic Day Flower and it becomes clear which one is blue and which is purple. Many plant seller try to claim purple plants are blue such as the case of the New England Aster which is called blue but is really purple. I was so disappointed when the flower came out purple and the entire plant got Aster Yellow carried by Lace Bugs. This fatal disease spreads to native cone flowers and any plant in the Aster Family. I wish I never planted it, but I was moved by the word “blue” as blue flowers the hardest to find in nature. The Woodland Spiderwort needs a shade location. My second attempt was successful in 2024. I now have an entire garden comprised mostly of native plants.
Updated 9/20/2024
This spring I successfully moved the balloon flower into a ground location so it’s no longer in a pot. The first time I did this in 2023, it started to die. I don’t know if it was something about the pH of the soil or the location. I dug it back up and put it back in a pot and it recovered. Now it’s in the ground and it’s made a large number of seeds this year. I have enough to share. The balloon flower does not like to be dug up or divided. It’s a long lived plant (I’ve heard) if you can treat it correctly.
Collecting Seeds from the Balloon Flower
I have successfully collected seeds from the balloon flower for the first time this year. The seeds are blackish brown have a slightly hard shell and are of a medium size. They need to be cold stratified. This is the first year I’m going to leave the balloon flower outside all winter. I really hope that it’s strong enough to take it. I have the seeds but I’m not sure if they are going to end up being purple or they’re going to be pink. There are certain plants that don’t seed true to type such as pumpkins. If you save seeds from a pumpkin it might be cross pollinated with other pumpkins and squashes and what you get will not be true to type. I would hope that if I grew the balloon flower from seed that the flowers would be pink and not purple but they might not be. The seeds take a really long time to mature so the spent flowers need to stay on the plant for many months because it stopped blooming in early spring. Now it’s September and finally the seeds have matured. The seed pods are black and wrinkled and shriveled like nothing I’ve ever seen. The tops of the seed pods open up and reveal small holes similar to opium poppies. From this top the seeds may be dispersed. However with so many weeds it’s really hard sometimes to know if the plant that you’re growing in your bed is a desirable plant or weed. Even if none of these seeds germinate hopefully the mother plant will remain alive next year.
I am providing a link from The Spruce with more info about Balloon Flowers. Everything in this article is correct. Balloon Flowers don’t like to be transplanted. The first time I transplanted mine I believe the soil was not amended enough with compost. Maybe the plant was too small at the time I transplanted it the first time? I put it back in a pot and made it healthy again. The second time was a successful ground transplant. The pink variety I am growing is also a dwarf variety. They also are drought tolerant.
Macy Makes Magic 