I have seen this plant described as a “coarse garden annual” that tends to naturalize in this country. Jewelweed is stigmatized from the outset by the “weed” in its name, yet both species mentioned are pretty enough to have occasionally been offered by dealers in native plants.Īnother jewelweed, Himalayan jewelweed (Impatiens glanduliferae), has flowers that range in color from pink to red. Of course, a plant that is too good at this may become a weed - like the spotted touch-me-not in my host’s garden. Their “impatient” method of seed dispersal might be seen as a good quality if you want an annual plant that spreads and returns every year. The outstanding quality of this genus is the plants' ability to deck themselves out in bright, colorful flowers even when growing in shade. These two plants - no, the whole Impatiens genus - highlight how very arbitrary we can be in our judgement of plants. The jewelweed with the pale yellow flowers is Impatiens pallida, sometimes called pale touch-me-not.

The orange-flowered jewelweed, which my host looked upon scornfully, is botanically Impatiens capensis, also known as spotted touch-me-not. Yes, that was jewelweed down there, and yet it was different from the plants we were standing next to, also jewelweed. He pointed to a sea of orange flowers still glowing in the fading light at the lower end of his property. My host raised an eyebrow when I said “jewelweed,” then shook his head, asserting that he knew jewelweed. Identification of the plant was easy: jewelweed (a species in the Impatiens genus), also known as touch-me-not, for obvious reasons.

The sims 4 gardening