my default.. for all vines.. houseplants.. is that they grow up rainforest trees ... [i didnt say it was right.. lol.. this is how i 'think about it' for 'culture' purposes .. 'culture' being how you grow a plant ...] ... they have roots in the ground.. that stay very humid.. but with the vast canopy .. may never get a much rain ... [except for a brief rainy season] they climb up the tree.. capturing ambient moisture with large leaves.. and putting roots into the bark.. again.. little water for those roots.. etc... so when we think of a potted .. tropical.. or semi- tropical houseplant .... we would want media .. and watering ... consistent with such thoughts... and that.. for me.. would translate to a drink .. and then full drainage ... a second reason such work well as houseplants.. is because of how little actual sunshine gets down thru the canopy ... which is similar to house-level light ... as i said.. this is NOT science.. this is how i 'think about it' .. when i analyze.. what i might have to do with a houseplant.. now.. with the WWW .. you can do a few minutes of research as to its native habitat ... and you should be able to intuit what direction you should go ... [can you believe in the good old days.. i had to actually buy a book to learn this stuff] and a glass vase that holds water.. will not be the answer anywhere.. that is all i wanted to point out.. i did not address whether it looked good or bad.. or anything else ... just those stains on the glass ... until OP comes back and explains such .. there is no further concern ... and its winter.. no plant holds its old leaves forever.. and the extra low lighting of winter .. in the house .. makes some of the older weaker leaves fall off .. its natures way [and a forced air furnace sucking all the humidity out of the house doesnt help either] ... good luck ken

It looks like Platycodon grandiflorus, balloon flower. Here is a link that might be useful: Platycodon grandiflorus, balloon flower

Yep, I'm quite sure now the fruit was just immature when I saw it. The plant itself appeared to be doing well and had no frost damage on the foliage even after it snowed. We were about 20 miles from the coast, so the air temperatures weren't too cold this time of year; I don't think it got more than a degree or two below freezing most nights. I really can't remember what the sensitive could have been, as the only things the name plaques showed was the scientific and common name. I believe the plaque may have mentioned something similar to papyrifera, since I kind of remember thinking it was interesting, but it could have been another plant I saw that day too. Or, maybe the plant had the wrong species name. I'd have to go back in the spring and see it again. All I know is that the shrub at my friend's house looked more like Fatsia japonica than Tetrapanax, and the one at the botanical garden, whatever it was listed as, looked like the plant at the house. Anyway, thank you all for the help (and the compliment!). I really liked this plant and didn't think to post here until just recently, as I have been wondering what it was called for the past month or so. I wish it was hardy enough for my zone, I'd take some cuttings home with me from the plant in Virginia. Would it grow well as a potted plant? I could always take it inside for the winter if I had some growing. My friend's mother was planning on pruning the plant sometime, so I might have a chance to save some pieces from going to waste.

Hello fellow St. Louisian, I'm over on the North Side of the County but have an older house with different soil and limited wind exposure. Bradfords and their close are hated by many but useful for temporary trees. Are your power lines buried like is the new style? Would something like (but maybe not) the Amur Maple I put up a link to seem right in that spot? I picked it because: I've seen a few in parking lot islands this fall looking excellent, one site claims good wind tolerance for them, if they grow in parking lots they probably will tolerate your soil, they don't get so big. That's important in this case because EVENTUALLY someone is going to need to dig up that pipe or power line and if that happened 4 feet from the big oak in my front yard I'd be real worried about the big fella's chances. With a smaller maple cost of replacement would be limited. Here is a link that might be useful: Amur Maple at Hort.uconn