Balsam (Busy Lizzie, Impatiens, Jewelweed, Snapweed, Sultana)
Impatiens wallerana (formerly Impatiens holstii). BALSAMINACEAE.
Planting and Growing Balsam
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow balsam in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of balsam
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for balsam
- Season of bloom and planting time for balsam
- When, how deep, and where to plant balsam
- How to plant balsam
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of balsam
- Landscape and container uses of balsam
- Comments about balsam and its features
Growing Balsam
Many cultivars of compact, low, spreading, succulent, deciduous perennial herbs, 8–24 in. (20–60 cm) tall. Shiny, deep green, narrow, oval, pointed leaves, to 1-1/2–4-in. (38–100-mm) long.
Common cultivars include Impatiens wallerana ‘Accent Star’, ‘Mega’, ‘Nana’, ‘Stardust’, and ‘Super Elfin’, each with varied habits and flower forms.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many brown, cream, orange, pink, purple, red, tan, white, variegated or fringed, 5-petaled flowers, 1–2 in. (25–50 mm) wide, in summer–early autumn.
Best Climates
Tender. Self-seeding. Plant as annual, zones 3–8; ground hardy, zones 9–11.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Rich. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Spring in filtered sun to full shade, 10–12 in. (25–30 cm) apart.
Proper Care
Very easy. Keep moist; allow soil surface to dry between waterings. Fertilize monthly. Deadhead, pinch, shear to promote new buds, dense growth. Propagate by cuttings, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for accents, hanging baskets, beds, borders, containers, edgings, massed plantings in cottage, formal, small-space, rock gardens. Disease resistant. Aphid succeptible.
Common Balsam Species and Hybrids
Balsam Species:
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- Balfour’s touch-me-not, Impatiens balfourii
- Balsam, Impatiens balsamina
- Snapweed, Impatiens capensis
- Himalayan balsam, Impatiens glandulifera
- Pale snapweed, Impatiens pallida
- Poor-man’s touch-me-not, Impatiens sodenii
- Busy Lizzy, Impatiens wallerana
- Siebold plantain lily, Hosta sieboldiana
- Wavy-leaved plantain lily, Hosta undulata
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New Guinea Hybrids:
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- ‘Celebration’
- ‘Java’
- ‘Paradise’
- ‘Pure Beauty’
- ‘Spectra’
- ‘Variegata’
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About Balsam
Nearly 500 species of mostly succulent, annual or perennial herbs and subshrubs make up the Impatiens genus.
They are highly varied in habit, with alternate or opposite, mostly oval, finely toothed leaves and showy, round, five-petaled flowers borne at the junctions of their leaves with their stems.
Most balsams are native to tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia.
Balsams or impatiens, are reliable, colorful, flowering, shade-tolerant perennials that have a place in every garden. Balsam is at its best in shady beds and borders.
Balsams also are known by the common name snapweed, due to the explosive habit of their ripe seedpods. Their seedpods are dry capsules that open suddenly and loudly when brushed, broadcasting tiny seed some distance from the parent plant.
They bloom reliably in showy displays from summer to autumn.
You’ll find balsam is a beautiful contribution to your beds and borders, especially those in shade gardens.
Choose from the most popular species and hybrids listed.
Planting and Caring for Balsam
Plant balsam in spring in filtered sun to full shade.
They perform best in moist, well-drained, sandy loam with average acid-alkaline balance.
Keep their soil moist during active growth, but allow its surface to dry between waterings.
Balsam or Impatiens are easy to grow, needing little more than regular watering when their soil surface dries and occasional fertilizing to bloom in profuse beauty.
While they sometimes are susceptible to aphids, they generally are pest and disease resistant.
For best results, feed them monthly with nitrogen liquid fertilizer.
Pinch new leaves and spent flowers, remove broken stems and damaged foliage to keep balsam plants bushy, dense, and compact. Pinching spent flowers also encourages new flower-bud formation.
Pruning and shearing renews the plants after flowers fade.
Propagate new plants by taking stem cuttings in spring before buds form, dipping them in rooting hormone, and heeling them into a moist mixture of sand and perlite.
Because balsam self-seeds freely, propagate new plants by transplanting these volunteers to your beds when they reach about 4 in. (10 cm) in height.
Balsam is also a good container plant. Choose hanging baskets or pots or set containers on a low garden wall or raised step and allow the plant to trail down in a cascade of showy flowers.
Remember that plants in containers need regular waterings to grow normally and produce their flowers, and that containers tend to dry and overheat more readily than does garden soil.