I'm betting balsam - look here

https://www.google.com/search?q=balsam&tbm=isch&source=univ&client=firefox-b-1-d&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwicu8bTtfLoAhVzj3IEHTlYBYYQ7Al6BAgCEEU&biw=1920&bih=945#imgrc=GnU_QEOq22a8-M

Maybe Platycodon, Balloon Flower? They make a sound when the buds are popped. With Balsam it's the seeds that pop rather than the flowers, isn't it?

Crepe myrtle. The buds pop open when pressed, I remember doing that as a kid in India.

This sounds like maybe snapdragons.

I thought about snapdragons too, but they don't, to my recollection, make a sound when you open their mouths. Also it's the flowers you open, not the buds. And lilac isn't a colour I'd immediately associate with them.

As a kid my brother and I use to pop the hosta budding flowers for the pop sound

Yup, you can't pop snapdragon buds, they open on their own schedule and don't wanna be rushed. :)

Thanks everyone. Not snapdragon or balsam; they were one color. I dont thick crepe myrtle grows here. I'll check out balloon flower. I've tried to "pop" my hostas, but never could. I guess that is a possibility?

There are some hardy crepe myrtel but who knows if there are other shrubs that do that.

We used to 'pop' hosta flowers, so it is definitely possible.

I thought of hosta too but there’d be no burst of color...especially red.

tj

we did that with hosta also ... its was the 60s ... the hort trade wasnt what it is today in terms of options ... what time frame are you dealing with????

i cant find where you found the reference to red color bleed junkie ... did i miss it reading thru 3 times ...

not many hosta pop ... and i think the one the had was [probably one of the undulat troika... the 3 very old workhorse .... either the green one with white edge.. or the white one with green center ... lol .. thats an inside hosta joke ...

ken

My mistake. It wasn’t the OP that said that.

tj

My money is on balloon flower.

OP said: '... I would sit on the porch near them and "pop" the flowers....'. She may have been popping them on my parents' front porch. Porches here are notorious for being surrounded by hosta. lol!

ETA: hosta flowers can be very different in size, color, and bloom time. I'm betting they were H. undulata or undulata variegata and they can definitely be easily popped. Here's a shutterstock photo:

I am betting on hostas, we did that as kids too and they popped.

What about fuschia? The unopened buds are similar to that of the balloon flower, and the colors sound right.

Reference to tradition of kids popping Balloon Flowers. Evidence for Platycodon

I remember doing this too. It was a twisted flower and grew on a vine up my neighbor’s fence. It was a perennial of some sort. It may have been a four o’clock. Do those vine up fences. I do not remember the colors being as pretty as the ones I find online. I remember seeing them as a child on different fences throughout my neighborhood. It may even have been a weed.