The flowers will be orange or yellow. I am not neccessarily in love with them in fact I was ready to erradicate them. They get about 4-5 ft tall which for me in most cases is just too tall for my yard. I am not a cottage garden sort of gardener. However, I got a nasty case of poison ivy in February(from early yard clean up) and I learned from searching the net that Jewelweed prevents you from getting poison ivy and can help clear it up faster if you already have it. I did not know the weed growing in my backyard was Jewelweed. Unfortunately it does not grow in February. Even If I get rid of most of it I will still reserve a small place for some just in case I ever get poison ivy again. What's interesting about this plant is that it tends to grow near poison ivy. If you search the net you will find recipes on how to make the homemade remedy to apply before going out into the yard to prevent getting poison ivy. The component in Jewelweed that prevents you from getting poison ivy is called urisol.

I have had Touch Me Knots (balsam impatiens)sprouting here and there for several years. Once planted they come back yearly from seed (kinda like cosmos, for me). I love them. I did plant some differnt plants in "their area" last fall. But, I bet I still get a few popping up. I think you'll enjoy them. They come back thickly and might need to be thinned out from year to year. Enjoy!! My colors have included rose red, pink, white, purple..no orange (that's OK with me) I like them.

...Beverly

I planted some old seeds labelled "double camellia flowered balsam". Wasn't expecting much since the seed is about three years old. But when I checked this weekedn it looks like I've got two sprouts, so we'll see.

There is the ultimate cottage garden in my neighborhood. Long, skinny, runns along the edhge of the property; spring thru fall I find an excuse to walk the length of it 2-3 times a week.

One summer, (only one!) they planted touch-me-not. It spilled over the retaining wall onto the brick alley way, and eventually migrated across the alley. Now it has colonized the whole other side of the alley! And it's mutated, from a mild mannered 2-3 plant with demure pastel shades -- to this 3-4' tall tiger in wild shades, just waiting to explode seeds into the cuff of your pants and hit the road, ready to set up shop in a new garden. I love it!

I have a big patch of them sprouting in the back yard. A "landscape designer" suggested that I spray the whole area with herbacide (!).

I like them, but my wife does not. :(

No wonder the garden stores don't sell them - they grow too well and don't need much maintenance.

Really nice orange bloom in the late Summer/Fall.

Woo-hoo! My double camellia flowered balsam have sprouted!

And I have no idea where to put them.....

Bakemom,I think that was me,right?I'm pretty sure I gave you the yellow-flowered variety.This must be a good year for jewelweed because I have hundreds of seedlings coming up all over my yard.I don't really mind though since they are easy enough to pull up.
I thought the toadlilies had been killed by our horrible winter, but lo and behold they just started emerging this week!Now I can't remember if they bloom in spring or fall.

Cecropia...toadlilies bloom in the fall. I love them...the flowers remind me of orchids.

...Beverly

That's right Cecropia! They were from you and they did beautifully this spring. Yellow will be so nice back there. Thanks again! It was a fun project to research etc.

Your toads should have doubled by now. Mine are a few inches high. By fall they should be about 3 feet tall and loaded with purple spotted flowers that, as Beverly says, look like mini orchids.

Last year was the first year they really took off. They were somewhat modest the first year or so, but last year they were huge and loaded with blooms.

Enjoy and thanks again!

You're welcome,bakemom,and thank you for the toadlillies.I look forward to seeing them bloom and hopefully spread.

I stumbled across this forum while doing a google search looking for jewelweed. Prior to seeing this box here where I can post to the forum I sent a few emails off forum asking where to find jewelweed in my area for use in poison ivy remedies. I am in the Columbus metro area. Does the jewelweed grow wild or do you plant it? Does it come up year after year? Is it easy to grow?

Welcome!

To answer your questions:
-- yes, it is super easy to grow. I had mine in shady, moist soil and it thrived. I've seen it colonize the edges of a dry dusty alley and thrive. In fact, it's kinda hard to discourage.

-- It's an annual in this climate, so the plants die off in the winter. But it self-sows very readily, and it grows fast from seed to flowering plant.

-- It's a wild plant originally, and is pretty common on the edges of woods. But it's also been hybridized and cross bred, and you can find it in garden centers as "impatiens balsamina" (the botanical Latin) or the common name, "Touch-me-not". (It got that name because the ripe seed pods sort of explode when you touch them, spraying the seeds a couple of feet.) I think the original is usually shades of yellow and orange, and has coarser foliage, while the garden version seem to be usually cooler colors from lavender to purple red to pink and white, with a much more tame look.

Wild jewelweed:

Touch-me-nots:

Hope that helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Using jewelweed