Does anyone grow balsam?

8 years ago

My neighbor gave these to me a couple years ago before she moved away. She had no idea what they were but she told me that a friend of hers from Alaska (who also had no idea what they were) had given them to her years ago. So before she moved away, she gave some to me and the cycle of sharing plants continues. For the longest time I had no idea what they were but I think I've finally figured it out. Turns out they're actually a species of impatiens known as impatiens balsamina (native to India, Bangladesh and Burma according to wikipedia). I have them in a partially shaded area, but after reading about them I've learned they need more sun to do well so I'm going to try to move them this year. I will say however that they do tolerate some shade (my neighbor had them growing under a redbud tree). Although they're technically an annual, they reseed heavily every year so I always have plenty of them. But the roots aren't very deep so they are easy to pull up if you don't want them there anymore. Honestly though, these plants have so many desirable traits that I can never have too many of them. As expected of an annual, they bloom pretty much all season. From late spring up until early fall your garden will be full of blooms. They come in several colors too (I have purple, red, and pink ones) and also attract bees and butterflies as well. There are also apparently double flowering varieties of this plant. I may consider trying some of them in the future.

Featured Answer

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

8 years ago

balsa are SEED HARDY .. in my MI ... which is mz's MI ... ken

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Comments (9)

mbhb
8 years ago
Are you able to post a picture ?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
I would want to see a photo as well. If coming from Alaska originally, I'd be more inclined to think it is Impatiens glandulifera, which is considered an invasive species in many locations.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
8 years ago
when i grew balsa ... i started with pink and white... but over the years .. the seed devolved to 99% white ...

when you want to compare two latin suggestions ... try the images function on a search engine ... ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=impatiens+balsamina&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-A68zSZV5Ke0%2FT6Sq9DZ6NhI%2FAAAAAAAAM1k%2FAGlNaeqW35M%2Fs1600%2FIMG_1751.jpg

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Impatiens+glandulifera&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
If the OP takes a quick look at some images it should be easy to see if it is balsamina or glandulifera since they look very different. However, s/he says s/he has three different colours. I've never seen a red glandulifera, only dark and light pink and very occasionally, white.
perennialfan275
Original Author
8 years ago
Well unfortunately I don't have a picture right now, but I can try to take a picture in a few months and post. Anyways, I checked some photos online and I'm pretty sure it's impatiens balsamina. After looking at the photos I noticed that impatiens glandulifera only has flowers at the top of it's stem and above the leaves, whereas impatiens balsamina has them all along the sides of the stem.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
8 years ago
I'm sure your id is correct. The flowers of glandulifera are very different from balsamina, not to mention the former grows 3 - 5 feet tall and needs very wet conditions. It grows along rivers here and is an invasive alien. The two are not comparable in the flesh.
porkchop_z5b_MI
8 years ago
I didn't think I. balsamina was hardy in colder zones - ?
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
8 years ago
It and I. glandulifera are true annuals, so not winter hardy anywhere :-) But reseed like crazy in the right conditions. btw, Impatiens glandulifera does not require wet condition here.....grows quite happily in the dry shade of large conifers....and everywhere else the seed lands!!