Flower Friday - Platycodon

Platycodon "Mariesii"

This week's featured flower is - Platycodon!  This perennial has pretty bluish-purple flowers that are also known as Balloon Flowers or Chinese Bellflowers.  They look like tiny hot air balloons that pop open to reveal lovely star-shaped flowers.  They grow on long thin stems that reach about 24" tall and bloom throughout the late summer and into the early fall.  They require very little attention, are pest-free, and bloom well year after year, but they do not spread very quickly.  If you would like to learn more about Platycodon, check out Dave's Garden's Platycodon age, Wikipedia's Platycodon page, Perennial Resource's Platycodon page, or About.com's Platycodon gardening page.

A few book and blogosphere updates:

1.  Eve's Fan Garden is hosting a chat with Holly Black, the author of White Cat,  at 9 pm EST on Thursday (8/26).  You can stop by and find out how to join that chat here.

I hope to join in because I absolutely loved White Cat and can't wait to read Red Glove!  You can check out our review of White Cat here.  :)

2.  Want to read the first few chapters of Kiersten White's Paranormalcy or Sophie Jordan's Firelight?  HarperTEEN is featuring both books in their Browse Inside BETA right now.  You can read the first 70 pages of Paranormalcy here and the first 67 pages of Firelight here.

3.  Have you heard about the Contemps yet?  If you are a fan of contemporary YA, you'll want to check out their lovely new website and sign up for their challenge.  Twenty-one awesome authors are participating, including Elizabeth Scott, Lisa Schroeder, Jo Knowles, Lindsey Leavitt, and Sarah Ockler.