Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Old-Fashioned Balsam Flowers

This Spring, I planted some Balsam seeds under a large Oak tree in the backyard. I like to think of these flowers as the original or heirloom variety of the hybrid impatiens we have today.  The flowers are vibrant in color and grow vertically up on a single stem.They also produce seedpods and I have had several reseed and come up again in one season. One word of warning though, the seeds are very difficult to find. I called all over town searching for the seeds before I gave up and ordered them online. They do brighten up a shady spot!

6 comments:

  1. Those are pretty. I like the idea of them reseeding. I used to grow Impatiens every year, but have given up lately since it's been so dry. Do you find that Balsam is a little more drought tolerant, or about the same as impatiens?

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    1. Ally,
      I planted impatiens this year and they looked so awful, I finally just pulled them up. The Balsam are a little bit more drought tolerant, however they do need some supplemental watering. Probably the ideal conditions would be in a shady/part shade spot with rich and moist soil. Some areas can grow then in full sun, but not here in TX! Thank you for dropping by:)

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  2. Beautiful plants. I've never grown them, but I'm putting them on my list of "possibles" for next year.

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    1. Thank you Dorothy. I always like to try planting something new each year. Thanks for stopping by:)

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  3. Those are beautiful :)
    Greetings, http://kolorywogrodzie.blog.onet.pl

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  4. I'm also a big fan. Shirley from Rock-Oak-Deer shared this link after seeing this post. Think you will enjoy;

    http://patricksgarden.com/why-doesnt-anyone-grow-balsam/

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