Thursday, June 14, 2007

Sentinial Blue (Platycodon Grandiflorus/balloon flower)-Perennial






This is a nice plant to put in a front garden. It is low growing and has very pretty bluish/purple flowers. I have never seen seeds on this plant and this plant does not have a blub at the base. It spreads by using its root system to branch out. It can be bought at various garden centers. It seems to be very slow growing and finally spreading. It is very hard to find at nurseries. I have been looking to buy more.

Good: comes back each year on its own, looks great in front gardens, spreads slowly, pretty bluish/purple flower, no end of year clean up-it tends to just disappear

Bad: is somewhat fragile, no flower fragrance, is hard to find at garden centers, bottom stems need to remain in garden

Season: blooms late June - August