Impatiens tinctoria

I just love the flowers of Impatiens tinctoria and it does very well in my garden.

It comes from cooler and damper regions of East Africa , Ethiopia , Uganda , Kenya , Malawi , Zambia , where it is found beside streams and damp places .

The tinctoria part of it's name gives a clue to the use of it's tuberous roots , as a dye . Used in a similar way to Henna , for dyeing hands and feet . The dye produced from the tubers is red , also used for dyeing  cloth .

It has medicinal uses - being used to treat fungal infections such as ringworm and athelete's foot .It has other medicinal uses too , but I would not discuss nor recommend them here .
 

I grow it simply because I love the flowers . Butterflies, bees and pretty Hoverflies all love it too .

Unlike pretty pink Impatiens glandulifera ,which is also more commonly known as Himalayan balsam or Policeman's Helmet which is an evil aggressively , seed popping , invasive thug .... this one , Impatiens tinctoria is not invasive at all . 

It grows into a nice well behaved clump  !    (and here in my garden in Cornwall , it doesn't pop its seeds at all ! )  

It dies back and goes dormant over the Winter months .

 My clump of Impatiens tinctora has been in the ground in my garden for over ten years and is still a nice well behaved clump of about no more than two feet wide . 

 In my big tidy up yesterday , I cut it right back to the lowest new forming shoots and I will give it a good mulch . It will have enjoyed all the heavy rain showers we,ve been having and hopefully it will give me a second display of it's beautiful , sweet scented blooms through August .

 

 

Impatiens tinctoria

                                                     Impatiens tinctoria
 I just love this plant ! It's natural habitat is beside streams  in cooler more forested regions of  central Africa .
  Here in my garden it grows very well in clumps , without becoming a thug .
The flowers are just delightful and always draw attention . It is a perennial  too surprisingly ...it dies down when the frosts come ( and we hardly get any here in Mullion Cornwall ) and comes up again in the spring . I would think in other parts of the U.K it would be an idea to give it a good mulch over winter . I always take cuttings ..which easily root in a jar of water a, pot them up and keep them over winter in my greenhouse .
 They do have large tubers.. I have not tried dividing these ,but I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work too . Anyone tried dividing the tubers ? Why bother when cuttings in water take so easily !
  Sweetly scented too . Ask if you want a piece .  It is my plant of the week !