Eye candy, batch #4

Sigh…culling through my archives, in preparation for my March/April 2012 exhibit, is making me want to photograph blooms and bugs right now.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Love-in-a-puff

Love-in-a-puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum), photographed in the Children’s Garden in Brookside Gardens

Also known as Tropical Balloon Vine and Heartseed, this fast growing vine will reach up to 10 feet in one season. It forms a three-sided balloon that stays inflated even when it turns from green to brown in the fall. Inside each pod are three seeds, each with a white heart appearing where the pod was attached to the vine. Native to the U.S., it can become invasive if allowed to reseed without control. The vine flowers in midsummer and its seeds ripen in the fall.

© Cindy Dyer. All right reserved.