Flower See photo from Royal Horticultural Society |
Foliage |
Form |
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Plant Name |
Impatiens glandulifera |
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Common Name |
Himalayan Balsam, Policeman's Helmet, Indian Balsam. |
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Soil |
Chalk or Sand |
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Sun Aspect |
Part Shade |
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Soil Moisture |
Moist |
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Plant Type |
Annual |
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Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
54 x 36 (135 x 90) |
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Foliage |
Light Green |
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Flower Colour in Month(s). Fruit |
Scented Purple, Rose-Pink or White in July-September followed by explosive seed capsules. |
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Comment |
Tall erect form. Use as summer bedding in light shade. Can become invasive weed. Attracts bees and butterflies. "Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is a relative of the busy Lizzie, but reaches well over head height, and is a major weed problem, especially on riverbanks and waste land, but can also invade gardens. It grows rapidly and spreads quickly, smothering other vegetation as it goes. Introduced to the UK in 1839, Himalayan balsam is now a naturalised plant, found especially on riverbanks and in waste places where it has become a problem weed. Himalayan balsam tolerates low light levels and also shades out other vegetation, so gradually impoverishing habitats by killing off other plants. It is sometimes seen in gardens, either uninvited or grown deliberately, but care must be taken to ensure that it does not escape into the wild. Himalayan balsam is a tall growing annual, 2-3m (6-10ft) in height. Between June and October it produces clusters of purplish pink (or rarely white) helmet-shaped flowers. The flowers are followed by seed pods that open explosively when ripe. Each plant can produce up to 800 seeds. These are dispersed widely as the ripe seedpods shoot their seeds up to 7m (22ft) away. The plant is spread by two principal means;
Available as seed from B and T World Seeds |
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ODDS AND SODS GALLERY PAGES Introduction FOLIAGE COLOUR SHAPE SEED COLOUR BED PICTURES OTHER FLOWER PICTURES |
Odds and Sods Height from Text Border for Odds and Sods Gallery |
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Blue = |
Green= |
Red = |
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Odds and Sods Soil Moisture from Text Background |
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Wet Soil |
Moist Soil |
Dry Soil |
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Click on plant name in the text box below that photo to change the comparison page to that Plant Description Page. |
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"Simona and Feruccio" by Madeleine F. Williamson Pires. Can Simona and Feruccio (the flowers) with |
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Plant Type in the following table is:-
followed by:-
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ODDS AND SODS INDEX |
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Odds and Sods Name. |
Flower Colour |
Flowering Months |
Height x Spread in inches (cms) |
Foliage Colour |
Plant Type |
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A |
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Violet with Yellow (may be pink, violet/lavender, dark purple/black, or white/near white) florets |
June, July |
10 x 18 |
Mid-Green |
P H |
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Purple |
April, May |
2 x 24 |
Mid Green |
P E |
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B |
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Bright White, yellow, pink or red |
June, July, August, September, October |
48 x 12 |
Grey-Green |
An H |
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C |
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Chrysan-themum 'Pennine Digger' and others |
Golden Yellow |
October |
48 x 30 |
Dark Green |
P H |
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White |
May, June |
5 x 12 |
Mid-Green |
P H |
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D |
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Pale to Deep Rose-Pink |
June |
6 x 72 |
Dark Green above, Grey-Green below |
Sh E |
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E |
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Greenish-Yellow |
April, May, June |
4 x 12 |
Blue-Grey |
P E |
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F |
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White |
June |
6 x 6 |
Bright Green |
P H |
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G |
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White-throated Sky-Blue |
April, May, June, July |
1 x 4 |
Dark Green |
P E |
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H |
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Yellow ray-florets with Brown disc florets |
August, September |
180 x 24 |
Mid to Dark Green |
An |
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I |
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White, lavender, purple, pink, or crimson |
May, June |
8 x 10 |
Mid Green |
An |
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Scented Purple, Rose-Pink or White |
July, August, September |
54 x 36 |
Light Green |
An |
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J |
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K |
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L |
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White to light Purple |
May, June, July |
36 x 12 |
Light to Mid Green |
An |
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Bright Golden Yellow |
July, August |
24 x 12 |
Mid Green |
An |
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M |
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Morus nigra |
Pale Green |
May, June |
480 x 600 |
Mid Green |
To D |
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N |
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Greenish-Yellow |
July, August, September |
60 x 12 |
Dark Green |
An |
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Red, White, Rose-Pink or Purple |
July, August, September |
18 x 12 |
Dark Green |
An |
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Domino Series cultivars have upward-facing flowers in Red, White, Crimson-Pink, Lime-green, Pink with White-eyes, Purple, Purple with White eyes, Salmon-Pink, or White with Rose-Pink margins |
July, August, September |
18 x 12 |
Dark Green |
An |
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Starship Series cultivars have good all-weather tolerance with flowers in Red, White, Rose-Pink, Lime-green or Pink |
July, August, September |
18 x 12 |
Dark Green |
An |
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O |
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P |
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Q |
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R |
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S |
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White |
July |
6 x 12 |
Inch long, dark Green, club-shaped leaves with silvery undersides |
Su E |
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TUVWXYZ |
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Site design and content copyright ©January 2007. Page structure amended January 2013. Feet changed to inches (cms) July 2015. Chris Garnons-Williams. |
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