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Impatiens repens
Ceylon balsam is a low, creeping evergreen perennial from the wet rainforests of Sri Lanka, grown for its red stems, small leaves and yellow flowers. It needs shelter from cold and steady shade with moisture.
Impatiens repens, the Ceylon balsam, yellow impatiens, or creeping balsam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Balsaminaceae, from Sri Lanka. As the Latin name repens indicates, it is a low-growing plant with a creeping habit. This evergreen perennial can be found in wet-zone rain forests. Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall and broad, it has small kidney-shaped leaves borne on red stems, and hooded yellow flowers in summer and autumn. It can be seen cultivated in gardens as an ornamental plant. In temperate zones it must be protected from temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F), so must be grown under glass during the winter months, It requires a sheltered position in partial shade.
Impatiens repens has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Impatiens arguta · Spotted snapweed · Jewelweed · Impatiens denisonii · Himalayan Balsam · New Guinea Impatiens · Touch-me-not Balsam · Hardy Impatiens · Pale touch-me-not · Impatiens pseudoviola · Impatiens stenantha · Impatiens tinctoria
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Impatiens repens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
