Mine is the old-fashioned straight grandiflorus (16 years old) and easily reaches 3', and sometimes more. . .Ginny's observation about dead-heading is right-on. . .I can usually squeeze an extra month of bloom, if I'm diligent. There are several plants together in one area, and, by choice, I keep one of them pruned back early and all season - it never exceeds 2', and blooms prolifically. As for flopping, they are one of the tight-clumping plants that can be perfectly supported using a simple (inexpensive) tomato cage - you may be "aware" of the metal cage more the first season, but after that first winter-over, they rust very nicely and blend right in. . . Carl

From the Missouri Botanical Gardening Website: "Best grown in light, medium moisture, organically rich, well-drained loams in full sun to part shade. Avoid wet or poorly-drained soils. ÂAstra Pink is easily grown from seed. Division and transplanting are possible but tricky because of the fragile, fleshy root systems of these plants, and it is probably best to leave plants undisturbed once established. Deadheading spend flowers generally prolongs the bloom period. New season plant stems emerge late in spring, so gardeners must be careful not to damage crowns by early cultivation (leaving old plant stems in place throughout winter to the point when the new growth first appears helps mark plant locations). No serious insect or disease problems. Root rot may occur in overly moist soils." Another website offered "Astra" would do better with a little shade. Sometimes that can be accomplished with other plants around them. My experience is only with the standard platycodon variety - believe simply called "Blue". It's in full sun, decent well draining soil and they get water basically when it rains. This plant has modest water requirements so I tend to pair them up with daylilies, sedums, TB Iris, Siberian Iris and things with similar requirements. I'm not a regular supplemental waterer. Mine are old, planted in the early 70's and they've increased and spread quite nicely over the years. I neither mulch nor provide any special winter protection. I find they don't transplant particularly well - but have had much more success with large clumps vs an individual plant. Only thing I can think of immediately for you - provide some passing shade, if possible; and hold back on the water.

I had good results winter sowing balloon flowers - pink, blue, and the dwarf varieties. According to Raker's list of first year flowering perennials the following will flower the first year from seed: Platycodon grandiflorus 'Astra' series Platycodon grandiflorus 'Mareisii' Platycodon grandiflorus 'Sentimental Blue' I have no actual experience since I usually let my perennials grow on and plant them out in the summer or fall. I have no experience with the double varieties. Hope this helps.

AmyKC - I never deadhead mine since the flowers fade naturally and form seed pods that are chock-full of seeds by the time the growing season draws to a close. You don't identify your zone but where I am the seedpods produce lots of viable seeds once they've ripened. Other than the initial nursery-grown specimens in my garden, I've grown all my plants from seed I harvested & sowed via the winter sowing method*. The plants I grew are blooming now. If you don't mulch your beds, chances are you'll get 'volunteer' plants but since I mulch over corrugated cardboard topped with several inches of bark mulch, my own plants haven't self-seeded. *There's a winter sowing forum here on GardenWeb if you're curious about the method. It's a remarkable way to grow perennials from seed that allows you to fill your garden beds with sturdy & spectacular perennials in short order, literally for pennies.