PlantFiles: Balloon Flower, Chinese Bellflower, Japanese Bellflower
Platycodon grandiflorus

Balloon flowers are perennial in zones 3-9. They grow 2-2 1/2' tall and should be spaced 1-1 1/2' apart. The foliage is blue green and the flowers are purple. They bloom mid to late summer. They need enough sun to thrive and enough shade to protect the color in the flowers (mostly sun to ligh shade by most of my books). They also need moist, well-drained soil. Just before the flowers open, they look like a balloon. After opening, they are star shaped. Flowers are 2-3" wide with pointed petals. The shoots are branched and are 2-3' tall with 3" toothed oval leaves.
Dwarf varieties are great for rock gardens and taller varieties are good for cut flowers.
Shoots are late to emerge so mark the location of the plants in summer so that they aren't damaged the next spring during cultivation. Plants usually take 2 years to flower from seed.

'Fuji'- mix of white, soft pink and purple that bloom from early summer to frost and grow to 12-16".
'Album'- white flowers
'Shell Pink' and 'Mother of Pearl'- pale pink
'Sentimental Blue'- bright blue flowers 15" tall

Grows in Heat Zones 9-3.

I've had an old tall variety blooming and multiplying in a wild spot for 5 years now, that NEVER gets watered or food!

Easy from seed; blooms the second year, though it's still just one little stem. Emerges late in spring, so mark its spot.

My balloon flowers are white, started from seed about five years ago. They flowered the second year up in Georgia, survived almost a year in a pot, and are flourishing in a raised bed with high filtered light in north central Florida, zone 8b. They really started spreading this year, and grew a lot taller, almost to four feet, and I had plenty of long lasting blooms despite heavy rain. A really nice plant for the perennial border.

Be sure to plant them where you want them to stay as they are difficult to transplant because of the tap root. Mine get about 4 feet tall each year and need to be staked. The unuaual thing about them is some will double flower and some wont. They don,t make for good cut flowers as the stem is short and they only last about a day. Be sure to deadhead for more blooms.

I have to reiterate what was just stated above: mature large plants do not tolerate transplanting. I moved one last fall and it completely died. It was growing in rocky soil with large tree roots, and it was damaged considerably when dug out, so that was part of the problem, I am sure. The roots are very brittle. I have a dwarf variety that can be divided with some ease. I usually cut my tall plants back to about half their height after blooming, and the foliage provides a good yellow color in Autumn.

My plant is a dwarf, blue, and only about 12 inches high. I seldom water or feed it and it keeps expanding. I have successfully shared very small, new plants. I am planning on trading seed with a friend who has a tall, about 3 1/2 feet, white plant. A fun plant to grow.

I have two of these plants. They are great plants, and bloom every year. They do need staking if they are tall growing types. Wish all plants where as easy as balloon flower to grow.I live in zone 8b. Marie

Known in Chinese medicine as Jie-Geng, these mid-to-late summer, vibrant, star-shaped, blue-violet blooms have traditionally been used to treat sore throats, coughs, bronchitis, chest pain, and tonsillitis. Easy to grow and care for. Zones 3-9. 1-3 ft. Hardy Perennial.
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Jie-Geng, Balloon Flower Info:

A hardy perennial featuring star-like, blue-violet flowers. Plants will bloom all summer long. Jie-Geng is a very beautiful vining plant whose edible root has been used in Korean cuisine and to treat ailments of the lung including bronchitis, laryngitis, pleurisy, chest pain and tonsillitis.

Growing Info: Jie-Geng does well when started inside or in a greenhouse before planting outside. Will grow to about 1 to 3 feet tall in average garden soil with just simple care. This vine plant loves full sun and is quite resistant to cold temperatures. Will bloom and make seed in it's first year.

Standard Uses: The edible roots of this plant have been used in Korean soups for years. It's delightful abundance of blue-violet, star-shaped blooms make it a wonderful ornamental vine that requires very little special care.

Medicinal Uses: Platycodon grandiflora has been traditionally used to treat ailments afflicting the lungs and bronchial tubes. Conditions such as bronchitis, laryngitis, pleurisy, heaviness in the chest and tonsillitis. The edible root can be chopped up fine, put into a tea bag or stainless steel tea ball and steeped for a few minutes in boiled water to make a tea. Honey can be used to improve the taste. Info provided by GreenWeb.com
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Additional Herb Information:
By HolisticOnLine.com

HTH,
~* Robin

The bluish purple variety has been a stalwart denizen of our garden for ten years--through some of the nastiest Minnesota winters on record. I don't mulch it, and have never consciously fertilized it. I do deadhead it with monk-like fervor to prevent it from reseeding. By keeping up with the deadheading, I can keep it blooming all the way to the beginning of October! The fact that its roots are fragile is a hidden blessing given that they will reseed like mad if you let them. Unwanted plants can be easily dispatched by breaking the root! Unfortunately, that means that you can't give them as gifts except by seed.

I planted seeds, in late February, which are already sprouting, in zone 8b.

Also, planted bare roots, about two weeks ago.

Very easy and undemanding - nothing seems to eat it and it doesn't demand water or food. I've had mine in a container for a few years and it's a reliable and pretty plant.

Beautiful balloon flower growing in Cleveland, Ohio. My only question is how to deadhead it. Where exactly on the stem should it be clipped?

spread seed mixture from Park Seeds late, July 11, because we were waiting for a utility to bury a line in that part of the garden. Only 3 took, but boy did they take! 2+ feet tall and blooming like crazy. Supposed to be doubles but only single blooms, but gorgeous anyway! Zone 5, Cassopolis MI.

This is one of my favorite plants - hybridzers haven't yet succeeded in making it look like anything but itself, and it acts like being in my garden is total nirvana :)

About transplanting - I have discovered that if you transplant it when it's dormant (when either the leaves and stalks have died back in autumn or not yet appeared in spring), it does not notice it is being transplanted.

Hollyhocks are the same way for us. Roots of either one that were tossed into the compost pile the previous fall will be happy to be planted again in the spring. A new neighbor was once beginning his garden one spring while I was rooting about in the compost pile and found very nice platycodon and hollyhock roots. They were tossed over the hedge and planted and did fine.

As others have said, it's very late to emerge in spring.... about the time when spring bulb foliage is fading, so it's a great choice to intersperse with those ... sort of like a time share in my garden ;) I recommend NOT planting the white variety with other white flowers that will bloom at the same time... the blue veins in the balloon flower make it look extra-white so most other whites look either yellowed or washed out in comparison.

I actually was able to transplant my balloon flower successfully. We dug it up last May (somewhat early in the growing season for 4a) and transplanted it (I only found out after transplanting that it was "don't transplant" plant). It did fine last year, other than being very floppy for the first time I can remember, and has just started to come up today. I guess the trick is to either transplant fairly early or late in the season.