Balsam

Balsam (Impatiens balsamina) is also known as garden balsam, rose balsam, touch-me-not and spotted snapweed.



Balsam is an annual flower originating from India/Myanmar. Besides the beautiful flowers, the plant produces seed pods that 'snap' at the slightest of concussive force sending seeds flying out of the pod in all directions. The plant's leaves have been used for a form of nail dying in some cultures. The plant is reported to have medicinal properties ranging from treating snakebites to digestive issues.

In my experience, it was an easy germinating plant that transplanted well. I planted my plants in a raised bed under semi-shaded conditions and they flourished growing almost three feet fall. I received a few rounds of seed pod production in zone 5B making the job of saving seed a little bit easier. The pods take a little time to get used to in order to gather seed in a reasonable time frame but they do fight you a bit. If you aren't careful, the seed pods snap and send seeds across your kitchen table.

Balsam is one of my favorite flowers too. It's very easy to grow and self seed readily. It also comes in other colors like white, red, fuchsia and purple. In the past, people smashed the petals and used the colored juice as nail polish. In my garden, the blossoms attract many pollinators including bumble bee and hummingbird.

I was wondering how well the seeds might fair over the winter.

I have purposely saved some seeds, but I know plenty have been spread naturally so we will see next year. The plants I put in this prior growing season were started inside and that was a breeze. They transplanted well to boot.

I would like to report that balsam seeds are super easy to save and plant the next year!

I was not 'nice' to my seeds, I simply spread them out by hand to contact the top of the soil and let them figure out survival from there. I had plenty of plants come up and another generation of seeds to pull from.

Something that I found interesting is that balsam is resilient enough to be able to germinate and grow through mulch. I had a few plants pop up in my wood chipped pathways that must of been volunteers from the prior year.

I grew this for the first time this year (thanks to May!).
planted late and in poor soil but I'm still getting blooms and starting to see some seed pods.

When do I pick the seed pods?  They are still green.

I love the flowers!!!

Judith Browning wrote: When do I pick the seed pods?  They are still green.

I by no means have any evidence to back up the effectiveness of my technique, but I poked a few pods to see if they would pop open. If I can get one or two to pop open, I will harvest pods to bring inside. I left them laying on a cloth to naturally open up but that made a mess. You might be able to control the opening of them to harvest the seeds in a neater way? The explosive nature of how their seed pod works is fascinating.