In celebration of the 4th of July holiday, the perennial this week is the balloon flower, but instead of just one plant, we’re choosing three of them for their patriotic colors of red, white, and blue.
The Balloon Flower garden perennial is a pretty cool plant in appearance – the flower buds look like little inflated balloons. The single blooms open to 5 point star shaped flowers, a reminder of the stars on the US flag. The double varieties have a bit more petals.
A few years ago, I bought a few balloon flower perennials for my yard. I love seeing the ‘balloon’ buds.
Both the single and double varieties are so pretty in the garden. The Astra Pink balloon flower is a soft pink with reddish pink in the center and through the petals.
A crisp white can add contrast to the other colors in a garden, and can brighten up a shaded area. The taller Hakone Double White balloon flower is one of the double bloom varieties, and grows about 1.5’ to 2’ in height.
The ‘Astra’ balloon flower, like the Astra Pink, above, and the Astra Blue, is smaller in stature growing to about 8 “ to 12” in height. With their compact size, they could be used in a planter.
The blooms of the Astra Blue are such a vivid color. You can see the balloon shaped buds in this next photo –
The balloon flower can be grown from seed, and does well in full sun or partial shade. The flowers range from 2” to 3” across. It adapts to a wide variety of soil types, blooms from June to August, and is hardy in Zones 3-8.
What do you think of this Balloon Flower patriotic color palette? ~M
Photo credit: Swallowtail Garden Seeds
