Friday, June 28, 2013

Balloon Flower

How great is it to have a flower bud that also looks like a balloon?
Pretty great, I have to say.

The balloon flower (platycodon) comes in blue-violet, pink, and white. 

Here's pink:

And here's white:

The blue-violet one is my favorite because it's blue, of course,
but also because that makes it a little unusual in the landscape.

I first planted a purple-blue balloon flower a couple of decades ago.
I had planted it from seed--it's the way most people planted 
flowers and vegetables in the "old days." 
And I was delighted when the purple-blue balloon flowers grew up
and popped open to reveal their blossoms.

And just last week I planted a balloon flower alongside my garage;
this time it was an already well-established plant in full bloom.
It's a real delight to walk around the corner and find a little plant
full of  petal balloons just waiting to burst.
Sometimes, it's the little things that make life worth living.
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