Balloon Vine

Cardiospermum halicacabum
 
Love in a Puff and Heart Seed are other names for this graceful vining plant.  Grows up to 15 feet in one season and needs a trellis of some kind.  Balloon vine is an annual in the Northwest.  My favorite part of this plant is the seed- a round black seed with a perfect white heart in the center. I was introduced to this seed by K Greene at a seed conference and he called them, “The Seed that Loves you Back”.  I had to grow them and share them widely.  I do believe that the plant world loves us back and it explodes my heart when I see the seeds reflecting back this truth.  The seeds grow inside of a fun green ballon/puff ball.  This is a fun one to experiment with and be sure to let some puffs turn brown and save the seeds.  Original seed from Hudson Valley Seed Company.
 
100 days to maturity
Packet contain ~25 seeds