Balloon Vine | Cardiospermum halicacabum | Certified Organic
Bright green balloons hide heart-emblazoned seeds!
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?
Direct sow after frost, or start indoors a few weeks earlier. Vines can grow to 8-10'–trellising required. Balloon Vine enjoys sun and rich, moist soil. May self-sow in the Northeast; not recommended for warmer areas.
Days to Germination 14-21
Days to Maturity 98
Planting Depth ½"
Spacing in Row 12"
Spacing Between Rows 18-24"
Height at Maturity 8-10'
Width at Maturity 18"
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.
About Hudson Valley Seed Company
They are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship. Hudson Valley are best known for their beautiful artist-design seed packs (Art Packs) that appeal to gardeners, gift buyers, and lovers of art and nature.
These Art Packs, most fundamentally, tell stories. Hudson Valley challenges artists to convey in a manner that is fully their own, the history and meaning of the seed variety contained in each pack. These stories were once integral to traditional societies-stories of seeds were often origin stories for entire communities and peoples, and the lore and beliefs that accumulated around seed varieties reflected the nearly familial way in which gardeners and farmers regarded their crops. Our society is, by and large, no longer connected to plants this way. But we like to think these Art Packs help to stitch our fragmented world back together: useful seeds, evocative art, both equally valuable to our experience of being human.