Platycodon, Balloon Flower, Chinese Bellflower, Japanese Bellflower 'Komachi'

I started a few Platycodon Komachi from seed about 15 years ago. They have come back reliably ever since, despite some years of neglect....Read More The clump that has been best-protected from competing weeds has gradually increased in size. Even one that has been surrounded by aggressive tree seedlings manages to hang on and bloom. The plants do come up late in the spring, but the leaves are distinctive, so it isn't too hard to recognize them when weeding. They are late bloomers and keep blooming long into fall if dead-headed,. The flowers are fun to include in bouquets because of their novel balloon shape. The little balloons are so tightly closed that you can pop them by squeezing hard. I plan to start another bunch of seeds this year.

I like this plant. I started it from purchased seed about 25 years ago, so not all seeds are sterile. I sill have the same two plants I s...Read Moreet out. However I have never had a new seedling show up anywhere. My guess would be that because the flower is closed, it needs to be hand pollinated to produce viable seeds.

I'd like to see a source saying that the seeds are sterile.

It should be noted somewhere here that the Komachi Balloon Flo...Read Morewer does not bloom. The buds puff up and eventually shrivel up all at once. To my knowledge, this is the only type of balloon flower that does this, so if you see pictures of platycodon with no opened blooms, it is probably Komachi.

Also of note, it is taller than the average platycodon.

Propagates politely into slightly larger clumps each year.
Prune back very hard after the first spring growth to encourage more bl...Read Moreooms and prevent the plant from being leggy.
Offers an abundance of seeds in fall but they are sterile.