Platycodon grandiflorus - Balloon Flower

Balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus) are clump-forming perennials and members of the easy-to-grow bellflower family of plants although the blooms do not resemble bells. Instead, puffy, balloon-like buds swell up to produce the 2- to 3-inch star-shaped flowers. This easy-grower blooms all summer long with intense blue-violet flowers, but there are also cultivars with white and pink blooms. Balloon flowers are generally planted in the spring after the danger of frost has passed, growing quickly to bloom in the first year.

Balloon flowers make excellent plants for border gardens or rock gardens and the blooms attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies thanks to their wide-open petals. These perennials will self-sow their seed, though they aren't aggressive spreaders. Overall, balloon flowers are fairly low-maintenance plants and are quite pest- and disease-resistant outside of root rot in areas with large amounts of rainfall.1