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Monsoon annuals

Balsam is ideal for borders and mixed beds

BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS Balsam

Impatiens balsamina is an old favourite and perhaps the most popular of our monsoon annuals. Balsam is a native of India, China and Malaysia. It is easily grown and found in every garden during the rainy season. Belonging to the family Balsaminaceae, these are sparsely branched plants with slightly hardy and alternate, narrowly elliptic, deeply toothed pale green leaves. They have brittle, almost transparent, succulent stems, with reddish joints. As the flowers have small stems they are not suited for cuttings.

The blooms are of many beautiful colours — white, pink, rose, crimson, violet and purple. They are 2.5 to 5 cm long and borne on leaf axils. The flowers are cup-shaped, hooded, spurred, asymmetrical and five-petalled, borne singly or in racemes produced close to the stems. They are irregular, double or single, and are followed by explosive seed capsules.

Seeds are sown at any time from the beginning of the monsoon. The plants should be grown in open, sunny situations. Seeds are sown in seed pans and transplanted when the second leaves have grown a little. Set the plants in fertile soil — lime free loamy compost. When the side branches appear, pinch off some and also the centre shoot. Those left will grow strong. The plants grow and flower quickly.

In Kerala, balsam blooms have an important place in decorating floral carpets during the Onam festival. An excellent houseplant, it is also used as borders or in mixed beddings.

CHITRA RADHAKRISHNAN

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