How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Garden Balsam

Easy-growing flowers are indispensable in the garden. They sprout ample blooms without much care, creating stunning garden displays with little work on your part. Perennials are often the easiest since you only have to start them from seeds once.

Though perennials are easier to grow, annuals like garden balsam are perfect garden stuffers. They tuck in easily amongst other shade lovers like hellebores, camellias, and azaleas. Though you do have to start annuals from seeds every year, their easy-growing nature is well worth the effort.

I like to save balsam seeds in the fall for growing in the spring. When you choose an heirloom variety, you can save its seeds for reliable propagation. The seedlings mature into plants that resemble their parents! Though heirlooms are the easiest balsam plants to collect seed from, you can do so with any variety. 

Garden Balsam Overview

Plant Type Annual Family Balsaminaceae Genus Impatiens Species balsamina	Native Area Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka Exposure Full sun to partial shade Height 6-30” Watering Requirements High	Pests & Diseases Aphids, root rot Maintenance Low Soil Type Fertile loam Hardiness Zone 2-11

What Is It?

This balsam is an Impatiens species. It’s a close relative of common impatiens, Impatiens walleriana. It’s an annual flowering plant that’s self-pollinating. It naturalizes in tropical climates, though it grows best as a summer annual in cold regions. 

Native Area

This impatiens relative originates from parts of southeast Asia and India. It often stops growing at three feet tall in cultivation, though it can reach much taller in the wild. It grows in sunny or shady conditions throughout forested, coastal, and hilly terrain. 

Though it originates from Asia, this weedy self-spreader naturalizes in warm tropical and subtropical climates. The seeds germinate on their own, forming wide stands of balsam in wild areas. The stands are gorgeous but they displace native tropical species. Remove the spent flowers to prevent them from reseeding into local habitats. 

Characteristics

Garden balsam sprouts elliptical leaves that taper at the tips and bases. They grow in whorls, forming circular rosettes up along the stem. In between the leaves sprout red, purple, white, or pink flowers with single or double petals.

The flowers are especially attractive to bees and hummingbirds. They’re like pollinator magnets, luring a wide array of beneficial insects into your yard. After pollination and fertilization, the flowers morph into exploding seed pods that erupt on contact.

Planting

Because this plant isn’t as popular now as it was in the 1900s, you won’t see potted specimens at local nurseries. They sometimes appear, though they’re rare and more common in specialist plant shops. The best way to find this species is to look for seeds; they’re easy to sprout and widely available. 

Growing from Seed

Balsam seeds are common in online plant shops. The ‘Tom Thumb Blend’ is perfect for beginner growers because it provides a mix of different colored flowers. You can choose your favorite color and save seeds from it, or you can cultivate a multi-colored garden for maximum floral impact.

No matter which type you choose, the germination process is the same for all varieties. Plant seeds in 5” cube pots, covering them with an eighth inch of soil. Pat them down, then water them so their soil turns moist but not soggy. 

Mature seedlings are ready for transplanting outdoors when they have ample leaves and shoots. You’ll start to see roots poking out of the pots’ drainage holes, signaling it’s time for transplanting or repotting. Wait one to two weeks after your last frost date before moving the seedlings outdoors. 

Transplanting

Transplanting is the easy part! Growing plants from seeds is more difficult than moving plants into the garden. If you started them indoors, you’ll want to harden off the maturing balsams before you put them in the dirt.

Hardening off is a temporary period that lets maturing seedlings adapt to outdoor conditions. Once frost dissipates, you’ll place them outdoors for a week or two in a partially shady area. They’ll receive natural wind flow, sunlight, and water stress that toughens them up. 

After hardening off, prepare holes for planting. Dig them as deep and twice as wide as the balsam rootballs. Place the plants in the holes, cover their roots with soil, and add ample water until the site is moist.

Wait to fertilize new transplants until after they adapt to their new locations. Give them four to six weeks before adding a well-balanced organic fertilizer. Instead of expensive fertilizers, you may also add compost to the site during planting. It’ll decay slowly, providing your annuals with the nutrients they need for the growing season. 

How to Grow

This Impatiens species grows well in a wide range of conditions. Give it what it needs and it’ll reward you with bright green foliage, erect stems, and stunning blooms. 

Light

Garden balsam grows best under full sun or partial shade, though it adapts readily to different lighting conditions. Where you live dictates how much sun your annuals can receive. Warm, hot summer climates common in USDA hardiness zones 8 through 11 are too harsh for this species—it’ll grow best with protection from the afternoon sun in these areas.

In most other regions, this balsam-like plant grows well under full sun. The more sun it receives, the more water it needs to stay consistently moist. Full sun plants often grow short and squat with dense leaves, while shady ones reach tall and have more space between their leaves. 

Water

Like most tropical annuals, Impatiens balsamina benefits from consistent moisture. It dislikes dry soil, and its stems quickly fall over if the roots dry out completely. Grant it adequate water so the soil stays moist and not soggy, like a wrung-out sponge. Water should leach out of the dirt when you squeeze it.

Soil moisture is heavily dependent on soil structure and composition. Though you can adjust watering to match the needs of your soil, it’s best to amend the site so it reaches the optimal composition for your species.

Soil

This balsam-like species grows best in well-draining soil with ample organic matter. Most contain three particles: clay, silt, and sand. Loam is a perfect balance of all three and is ideal for growing most garden species. 

Other options include mixes with more sand than clay or silt, though you’ll have to water these soils more often than loamy ones. They’re free-draining but struggle to hold onto water and nutrients like loam. 

When in doubt, add compost! Compost works well to fix any soil type, adding absorbency, drainage, and nutrients to the site. Add a heaping dose of the stuff once or twice a year to your garden beds, and the soil will host worms, beneficial bacteria and fungi, and other soil critters that foster healthy plant growth. 

Temperature and Humidity

This Impatiens species germinates when soil temperatures reach between 65-70°F (18-21°C). After sprouting, the seedlings prefer warm temperatures above 65°F to grow well. They’re not frost-resistant and will succumb to cold temperatures if you transplant them too early or too late. Grow them in spring or summer, or year-round in warm climates.

Alongside warm temperatures, this species appreciates ample humidity. Grow it in a shady, moist area where humidity is abundant, or try growing it in containers with pebble trays nearby.

Fertilizing

This annual loves plant nutrition, benefitting from fertilizer or compost additions during the growing season. In sites with fertile ground, fertilizer is unnecessary, though it’s helpful in sites with little nutrients. Use a well-balanced organic fertilizer, adding a half dose once a month while the plants grow leaves and flowers. 

Maintenance

Little maintenance is necessary during cultivation. The only time you’ll need to intervene is if you’re growing this species in warm zones 9 and above. It readily self-sows, creating dense stands in gardens, landscapes, and wild habitats. 

Prevent seeds from forming by deadheading spent blooms. Without flowers, the plants are unable to pollinate themselves and form seeds. Deadheading also encourages more blooms, creating tall, proliferous specimens. 

Propagation

Because this plant is an annual, it’s most often propagated through seed. You may also take cuttings off of healthy plants, though they’ll need time to root before they can grow flowers. Use whichever option works best for you and your garden.

Cuttings

With cuttings, you use asexual propagation to create clones from the mother plant. This is a great way to propagate if you have a plant you particularly like and don’t want to discard. Instead of letting it die in the fall, take cuttings and overwinter them indoors for fresh plants the next spring.

Start taking cuttings by snipping off four to six-inch portions from the stem. Remove their lower leaves, and cut their upper ones in half to prevent them from growing. This redirects the cuttings’ focus towards root production rather than stem or leafy growth. 

Place the prepared cuttings in pots with moist potting soil, and add a humidity dome on top to trap ambient moisture. After two weeks the cuttings will have healthy root growth and new shoots, signaling that they’re ready for transplanting or up-potting. 

Seed Saving

Seed saving is the easiest way to propagate this species. It also goes by “touch-me-not” because of its exploding seed pods. They use tension to open and scatter the seeds throughout the space, sometimes feet away from the mother plant! 

To save seeds, you must outsmart the popping pods. Start by collecting immature pods with ripe seeds—the seeds should look black-brown and hard, not green and soft. If the pods are ripe to explode, grasp them entirely with your hand and dump them in a container. You can separate the pod parts from the seeds for easy collecting.

Even with the right techniques, you’ll likely lose a few seeds during the collection process. Plant a few plants every year and you’ll have multiple seed sources. This helps make up for any pods that explode during the collection process.

Common Problems

Few pests or diseases target this annual, which is one major reason it’s perfect for landscapes. You’ll cultivate gorgeous cutting flowers without worrying about pesticides, herbicides, or other nasty chemicals that harm our local ecosystems. 

Pests

Aphids are the primary balsam pest; they’re annoying insects that target fleshy plant growth. They’ll set up on your plants, creating dense colonies that harm tender growth. Other critters, like leaf beetles, may target weak specimens.

Remove these pesky critters by spraying your annuals daily with strong streams of water. You may do so twice a day if you have the time and energy. After a week or two of repeated sprayings, the aphids and leaf beetles will fall to the ground and search for other hosts. 

You may also squish pests with your fingers to prevent them from spreading to other species. Use gloves if you’re squeamish, and place the dead insects in the compost to return their nutrients to the earth.

Diseases

Few diseases affect this plant. Watch for root rot in wet areas—it’s most common in mixes with lots of clay or silt. Use fertile, well-drained soil to prevent most rotting diseases. If your yard has plenty of poor soil, consider growing them in pots, containers, or raised beds for easy amending.