flowerishness: Impatiens roylei or Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam, Policeman’s helme
flowerishness: Impatiens roylei or Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam, Policeman’s helmet)About twenty years ago we bought an Impatiens roylei at a neighbor’s garden sale. We grew it in the garden that summer but my general take was, “A tall plant with pink small flowers.” and we never grew it again. I found this specimen growing in a ditch in the farm belt and when I started investigating on the World Wide Web I was amazed.In Europe this plant is considered so invasive that, since 2017, it has been illegal to import, cultivate, transport, commercialize, plant, or intentionally release into the environment Himalayan Balsam in the entire European Union. Here in Canada, it is considered a “prohibited noxious weed” under the Alberta Weed Control Act 2010, with heavy fines attached. Here in BC it also figures prominently on the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia website. One of the reasons farmers don’t like Himalayan Balsam concerns this plant’s massive nectar production. If it’s growing next to a canola field, the bees ignore the crop in favor of these pink flowers. It also becomes dominant in riverine environments but unlike native species, it’s shallow roots can’t stop erosion and especially when it (inconveniently) dies off just as the autumn rains arrive, it can result in serious flooding. -- source link
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