SCIENTIFIC NAME: Platycodon grandiflorus

COMMON NAME: Balloon flower

FAMILY: Campanulaceae

TYPE: perennial

LEAVES: ovate to ovate-lanceolate, short-petioled and acute, leaf margins sharply dentate, alternate leaves are glabrous with glaucous-blue lower surfaces, 1" to 3" long

FLOWER:saucer-shaped, balloon-shaped buds, terminating long branches or peduncles, 2" to 3" across, usually blue, also pink and white; five-lobed bloom

SEASON OF BLOOM: summer

GROWTH HABIT: 1' to 3' mounding from seed and becoming erect

SOIL: well drained soil, slightly acidic

SUN: part shade

HARDINESS: zones 3-8

UTILIZATION: cut flowers, rock garden, perennial garden, border

DISEASES: none

INSECTS AND RELATED PESTS: none

PROPAGATION: seed, division is difficult but not impossible

MAINTENANCE: low