I also have balloon flower (platycodon) and other things on your want list. Interested in squash, tomatillo and I can't remember the other thing. I hate this website. So not user friendly with that stuff!

I just came in for a break from digging up balloon flowers that are literally everywhere! I did not realize they had a tap root so I did a search. I am giving these to my sister and niece. I hear there is some recovery time needed. So instead of just dumping them into a bag and dragging them over to my sister's, it looks like I am going to have to pot them up. Holy Cow! Some of the roots are as big as an ear of corn. In addition to spreading by seed, it is looking like they are also stoloniferous (sp?). I bought two plants 5 years ago and now I have at least 3 dozen huge clumps. They appear to be invasive in my yard!

Are you familiar with cutworms? They cut off thin stems a few inches or less above ground level, or cut off leaves from larger stems. Often they leave piece of the plants on the soil's surface, though not always. They spend their days curled in loose soil near the base of the plant within an inch or two of the soil's surface. If you disturb them they curl up into a tight spiral. Go out with a flashlight at dusk and look near the base of the plant and up the stems. The cutworms vary in color from tannish to greenish to brownish, and the youngest will be less than 1/4" in length while older ones can be up to about 1 1/2". You can squash them or drop them into a container of soapy water. After dark they migrate over the garden's surface to find new plants, so you may need to check more than once. With small plants you can give them a plastic collar that goes an inch or so below the soil surface and a couple inches above to discourage new cutworms from finding your plant.

I saw this plant today at Home Depot, and wanted some information from someone that grows it. I want to know if it's good for butterflies, bees, or hummingbirds? I've been looking on line, and they really don't give much information on that. I really liked it and was very tempted to buy it. Thank you in advance, Ileana