What is pop pop in everyone? And I'm saying that because today's episode is about the balloon

flower also known as the Chinese bellflower trying to get a little bit more into the

ornamentals myself and hopefully those of you who have felt a little

ornamental starved here on the podcast are going to enjoy this one so this is a

popular plant it's got this lush green foliage, but then these five pointed flowers, they kind of open up like stars from this puffy balloon-like bud.

And so let's talk about how you might go ahead and grow these. First of all, where does it originate? It comes from eastern Asia. It has names like Kikiyo or Doragi. I don't know if I pronounce those correctly, but those would be the Japanese in

Korean names respectively. And it's also called the Chinese Bellflower, the Japanese Bellflower, or the

Plady Codon, and its name basically comes from these buds that puff up like

tiny balloons before they open so they open right from the tip and they sort of explode

outwards in these five points.

So how do we care for the old balloon flower?

It's actually very simple.

They're tolerant of almost all weather conditions throughout most of the United States, but let's talk about the best conditions.

Light and temperature. It wants cool summers, so maybe not this summer guys, but put it on the docket for next summer or if you're in a climate that actually does have a cooler summer, then this could be a great plan for you.

Basically, if you live in zones 3 to 8 in the United States, it's extremely easy to grow.

If you live in zone 9 or above, it can have a hard time in the peak of summer, so maybe

refer to yesterday's episode on how to protect plants from the heat if you do grow it in those zones.

Water and humidity. Water can be a little tricky with this plant. They're very thirsty, but they don't want a

boggy condition or soggy soil. So you just have to water them more often. Soaker hoses are a great idea for

this plant or drip irrigation because basically it's a taproot

plant so it has a deep taproot and going slow and deep as far as irrigation goes is going

to be a really good idea. Now soil-wise, like I said, not

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