Growing Love in a Puff

Petals Bouder
Nov 11, 2020
2 min read

Updated: 10 hours ago

Love-in-a-puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum) is a delicate, fast-growing annual vine prized for its airy white flowers and its unforgettable seed pods. After flowering, the plant forms chartreuse, lantern-like capsules. Inside each lantern are smooth black seeds, each marked with a crisp white heart—an entirely natural marking that gives the plant its romantic common name and never fails to feel a little magical.

For home gardeners, love-in-a-puff is a joyful ornamental climber. For cut-flower growers, it’s a late-summer treasure: the vines can be harvested and woven through bouquets for movement, texture, and a story guests love to hear.

Botanical notes & a touch of lore

Family: Sapindaceae (the soapberry family), which includes maples and lychee—an interesting reminder that this dainty vine is related to some substantial trees.
Name origin: Cardiospermum comes from the Greek kardia (heart) and sperma (seed), a direct reference to that heart-stamped marking.
Whimsy: The heart is formed by a natural scar on the seed coat where it was attached inside the pod—no trick, just botany doing something charming.

Growing love-in-a-puff successfully (especially in Colorado)

Germination tips (for impatient gardeners)

Love-in-a-puff seeds have a hard seed coat, which can slow germination. To speed things up:

Nick the seed gently with nail scissors or a file—just enough to break the coat, not damage the seed inside.
Soak in water for 24–48 hours before planting.This works equally well for indoor starts and direct sowing.

When to start

Along Colorado’s Front Range, spring weather is famously unpredictable. For reliable results:

Start seeds indoors 8–10 weeks before last frost (roughly March 5–21 in Boulder).
Love-in-a-puff has a long season—about 120 days to maturity, so early starts mean earlier lanterns.

Seedling care

Once vines begin to elongate, tuck a wooden chopstick or thin stake into the pot so the tendrils have something to grab.
Provide bright light and even moisture—avoid letting seedlings dry out completely.

Transplanting

Harden off seedlings over several days once frost danger has passed.
Plant in full sun to light shade with a trellis, fence, or strings ready at planting time. These vines climb eagerly.

Greenhouse & cut-flower notes

At Petals, some love-in-a-puff vines head straight into the greenhouse, where they truly shine. Warm days and nights encourage rapid growth, and the vines happily scramble—sometimes seeming to zipline—from hanging basket to hanging basket.

For cutting:

Harvest vines once lanterns are well-formed but still green.
Use them fresh for airy movement, or dry pods for everlasting arrangements.
Late-summer bouquets benefit from the playful contrast between structured flowers and these wandering vines.

They’re also a favorite for harvesting with kids, who are often convinced fairy magic must be involved when those heart-stamped seeds spill out.

Where to find seeds

Love-in-a-puff seeds are widely available from reputable seed companies, including:

Johnny’s Selected Seeds: https://www.johnnyseeds.com
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: https://www.rareseeds.com
Botanical Interests: https://www.botanicalinterests.com

🌱 Local note: Petals Flower Farm has a small number of love-in-a-puff seeds available for Boulder locals, and we’ll also have started vines at our May plant sale—perfect if you’d rather skip the germination step and get straight to the magic.