Behold the balloon flower.
It was a year or two ago that we first found one of these at our local garden centre and we were delighted to get hold of it. The one we found was a vibrant purple colour and there was no way we were going to leave it behind.
What I was able to gather at that point was that this is one hardy plant. We live in a rather cold area with winter frost so it had to be as this is a perennial that could survive for some years to come.
The name comes from the round shape of the flower before it opens. all the flower in my photographs were unfortunately already open so I could not provide an image for that. Also, I have read that there are actually a few different colours. I am looking forward to finding some of those here where I live.
