Garden balsam is also called fingernail plant, tougu cao, golden phoenix flower, sajin hua, jimingzi, and xiaotao.

Scientific name: Impatiens balsamina

English name: Garden Balsam

Aliases: fingernail plant, tougu cao, golden phoenix flower, sajin hua, jimingzi, xiaotao

Family name: Balsaminaceae

Genus name: Impatiens

Adapted regions:

Native to China, India and the Malay Archipelago, widely cultivated in central and southern China.

Ecological classification: herbaceous plant, annual and biennial flowers

Ornamental classification: flowering plants

Morphological characteristics:

Annual herb, plant height 30-60cm. Stem fleshy, reddish-brown or light green, often related to flower color, with swollen nodes. Simple leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate, with serrated edges; the base of the petiole has two glandular points. Flowers solitary or several clustered in leaf axils, opening laterally; sepals 3, the two lateral ones smaller, the posterior one larger and saccate, with a spur at the base; petals 5, in colors such as white, pink, deep red, purple, and purplish red; flowering period June to October. Seeds easily burst open by themselves when mature.

Growth habits:

Likes light, likes moist but well-drained soil, not cold-tolerant, can self-sow.

Myth and legend:

In Greek mythology there is a story about the origin of the garden balsam.

One day, when the gods were drinking deeply in the fairy realm, when the golden peaches were brought to the banquet, one was unexpectedly missing. The gods suspected that a certain fairy had stolen it, and without letting her defend herself, expelled her from the fairy realm. The fairy, full of injustice, wandered to the human world, but by then she was already exhausted. Before dying, she made a wish in her heart, hoping the injustice could be cleared up.

After she died she became the garden balsam. Whenever the garden balsam fruit ripens, as soon as it is lightly touched, the fruit immediately bursts open, as if impatient for people to see her "heart," so people called her "jimingzi" (impatient one).

In ancient times there was no nail polish, but beautiful ladies knew how to make good use of nature's resources to adorn themselves. They picked red garden balsam petals and used the juice of the petals to dye their nails, so young girls called the garden balsam "fingernail flower."

The African impatiens from Africa also belongs to the Balsaminaceae family, and is a close sister of the garden balsam. It lacks none of the garden balsam's characteristics, has more flowers than the garden balsam, comes in even more varied colors, and can bloom all year round, so it has become a favorite guest of flower beds. The seemingly delicate African impatiens actually has unexpectedly superb vitality.

To tell the truth, it is both easy to grow and blooms very readily, making it most suitable for beginners to cultivate. Whether in a courtyard, by the house, or on a balcony, as long as there are two or three hours of sunlight each day, African impatiens can grow vigorously and thrive joyfully.