Balloon Vine
Cardiospermum halicacabum
Certified Organic
Grown on Our Farm
You'll fall in love with this tall, climbing vine–with its bright green puffs and heart-emblazoned seeds! A vigorous grower, Balloon vine belongs to the soapberry family and can reach 10' tall in full sun. The three-chambered, lantern-shaped pods produce matte-black seeds, each imprinted with their own white heart: pure poetry in plant form!
Cardiospermum halicacabum (Cardio = heart, sperma = seed) is variously known as Balloon Vine, Love-in-a-Puff, and Heart Seed. Perfect for a romantic bower or privacy screen, the tiny white flowers attract pollinators and the foliage grows densely enough to provide shade. Grow this vine and it will love you right back. After all, who says plants can't show affection to their caregivers?
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Growing instructions
Product Details
| Days to Maturity | 98 days |
|---|---|
| Days to Germination | 14-21 |
| Width at Maturity | 18" |
| Height at Maturity | 8-10' |
| Hardiness Zone Range | Annual |
| Planting Depth | 1/2" |
| Row Spacing | 18-24" |
| Plant Spacing | 12" |
About the artist
Artwork by Cal Patch. Her handmade apron is decorated with cross-stitched lettering and embroidered pods. It allows those who wear it to keep seeds close their hearts in the garden, in the studio, and in the kitchen.
These are as prolific as promised. We had a tough spring but I got one of these to harden and that one plant was SHOWY. They’re tall and really do fill out. It was particularly exciting for the small children, it got them to spend more time in the garden (they’re fun to pop and people are generally delighted to see them) and helped me to teach my kids about seed saving! Looking forward to planting more and getting fancy with trellising.
These little seeds... with hearts!!.. can be a challenge to germinate. But... the vine, delegate flowers for bees and the pods are worth it. Yep! It reseeded in unusual places. But it's all good. Thanks for the unique opportunity to have this darling seed and subsequent vine.
Wonderful
These vines are so pretty! The leaves are lacy, very delicate looking, tiny white flowers appear mid summer, and then come the balloons in bright green color!!! I grew them against the fence, they covered it to the top, and even "grabbed" some low branches of fruit trees and grew sooooo tall. The plants reseeded themselves for the next year (zone 9b). The seeds are adorable as well - white, sweet pea size, with a heart shape ideally printed on each of them. I've read somewhere that the common name for them in Victorian times was "love if a puff", which totally makes sense.