My neighbor has a lovely stand of white Fuji Balloon Flowers in her garden. I think they look marvelous, so I wanted some for my untidy sort of cottagey garden, and without putting a ton of thought into it, got seeds.

Hey, wait, it's almost August. Hm. What would happen if I sowed some seed outside at this point of the summer? Clearly any resulting plants would not bloom (actually, they don't bloom the first year anyway, do they?), but would they come back in the spring? Would I be getting a jump on the spring planting season? Are these self-seeders? If so, this is the time of year that they are dropping their seeds for next spring, so maybe I could drop some instead. But if they come back from a root system, what do you think? Would there be enough time between now and frost for the tap root to form? (I'm in Western New York, near Lake Ontario.)

I have a small balloon flower plant that comes back every year, but is only about 8" high; I never find new baby plants around that one.

Any advice?

Vicki

Since you have not seen any self-sown seedlings then why waste the seeds? It seems as though the chances are slim if you sow them outside now.