Dutch: Reuzenbalsemien - French: Balsamine de l'Himalaya - German: Drüsige Springkraut
Want to find out how you can get to know her as a wild edible?
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Here she is, giant and beautiful, Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). Dutch: Reuzenbalsemien - French: Balsamine de l'Himalaya - German: Drüsige Springkraut Want to find out how you can get to know her as a wild edible? Picking carefully - bees hide in the flowers! Remember, foraging is an exercise in mindfulness... Color variation - lighter and darker pink. Flowers are great in salads and summer drinks, or as an edible flower decoration. Or frozen in ice cubes! And the stem is hollow - you can use it as a straw! This is a piece from the upper part of the stem; below you can see wider straws from the lower part. You can use whatever you prefer. Himalayan balsam flower ice tea, served with Himalayan balsam stem straws. Just to give you an idea of how massive a plot of Himalayan balsam can be - it's huge, and rather invasive. Himalayan balsam jungle is the word our kids use :)
26 Comments
Susan edwards
10/8/2013 08:53:14 pm
I live in central France. My neighbour gave me a seed packet labelled Himalayan Balsam. Can this be the same invasive weed? Sadly Roger died last year so I can't ask him.
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Hi Susan. It probably is. I live in one of France's neighbour countries, Belgium, and it grows here abundantly. We just got back from Germany where it grows as well.
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Ruby Cole
16/7/2014 08:17:14 pm
Please do not sow seeds of Himalayan Balsam, its incredibly invasive and will smother out native plants! In the UK armies of volunteers spend thousands of hours destroying this weed.
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Derek
18/7/2014 10:14:08 pm
Hi Ruby,
Derek
18/7/2014 10:14:58 pm
Hi Ruby,
George Anderson
1/10/2015 06:35:55 am
It is actually illegal to spread this plant in the UK.
Susan
15/8/2013 10:54:27 pm
Thanks for the info.
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Jack
2/9/2013 04:13:59 am
Yes here in 64 I am currently pulling it up around the cow feeder for the 2nd year. Strangely I've just sent off for some quinoa seed and there are slight similarities. Well edible !
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Dubhghlas
16/10/2013 09:17:26 pm
This stuff is extremely invasive and is steadily crowding out local native plants in the area of Northern England. There are a number of campaigns by local environmental groups to clear it, but it is a losing battle.
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radha
13/3/2017 01:31:13 pm
I love wild edibles.
Lin
21/10/2013 08:53:06 pm
Could you tell me if there's a yellow variety also please?
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Lin, you're probably referring to touch-me-not balsam, Impatiens noli-tangere. This plant is from the same family and has a similar, yellow flower. It's rather rare and protected where I live, but the Plants For A Future database mentions the leaves and seeds being edible: http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Impatiens+noli-tangere (you'll have to copy and paste the link in your browser). But please check first if it isn't protected in your area.
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Bard
4/3/2014 07:03:50 pm
Thankfully Himalayan/Indian balsam is here to stay. What a fantastic pioneer plant we have on our hands. The fact of the matter is that it's very well adapted to our climate, it's edible and it grows only where the ecosystem has been disturbed by human influence. I chorttle watching the "eco" groups pulling it out, churning up all that soil into bare earth, totally unaware that they are creating the perfect environment for another "invasion" next year. It's also worth pointing out that as climate change continues many of these invasive "weeds" may be the plants that we are going to need in the future. Naturally humans on the whole don't think that far ahead though.
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Derek
22/3/2014 01:43:55 am
I usually allow just 3 plants to survive per year on my small plot so they grow as 'spectacular as nature internded'. during the extreme wet spring of 2013 they were a godsend to the bumble bees and we counted 6 different species that were taking advantage of them, then of course they got blackfly and all kinds of other parasitic flies etc. which is great as far as I'm concerned because everything gets eaten by something!
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Joy
14/8/2014 05:30:24 am
Can this plant(Himalayan Balsam or pink jewelweed) be used to treat/heal poison ivy rash? They say the orange flowered kind can and they are similar with juicy stems...
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Dali Castillo
5/10/2014 12:41:37 am
Can the leaves be used to make tea? I have bought balsam at a local Amish market and it is leaves which they use for tea. Is this the same plant?
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Ladybird
16/7/2015 06:05:59 am
I volunteer with the YWT and at this time of year our main job is trying to remove himalayan balsam.
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Derek
16/7/2015 05:42:05 pm
I think I'd best tread carefully, My little garden at the front, 12x5 has asian poppies, cornflowers Gallardia, two rose bushes, Gogi berry and grape (both over 6 foot) growing up the wall, Atlantic delphiniums that have just gone to seed but were 6 feet tall, a dianthus thats been there for two years that just 'appeared' and is approx a foot square, a few thistle family things that I haven't bothered to identify but tend to put a couple of the nice looking leaves in a salad, (and I aint dead yet) A 2x3 patch of polyanthus that looks great in early spring, a lot of that very small dark red/purple clover stuff that has a small yellow flower and is a pain to keep pulling out and right at this moment you cant see a spare bit of soil anywhere because,,,, the rest has been filled in with,,, yep, Himalayan Balsam. But I'm worried, There's some darned bug that is munching the heck out of it! The HB has only got to 6 inches tall to date (probably because I never water and this is a garden in full sun all day) Typical eh? just when a useful to bees and humans plant comes along nature decides that it's ideal for some bug that the blue tits would like.
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pam
4/2/2016 04:41:39 am
I have grown Himalayan Balsam since 1999 when I brought seeds back from a house exchange on Vancouver Island. I was told they called them Imperial Busy Lizzies & I was asked to water them regularly. Here in Essex England it is very dry, so each year they get fewer until they disappear altogether, but I just collect a few seeds when in a wetter area & start again. I keep about 5-6 in the garden, pinch them out so they don't get tall enough to seed over the fence & also produce more side shoots & more flowers. In all the years I've grown them they have never spread to my neighbours gardens. They are certainly invasive around water courses.
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Katharine Larkin
21/5/2016 02:06:16 am
Eco systems evolved over hundreds of thousands of years with interdependent vegetation, insects and birds suited to the places in which they evolved. Now we have human intervention on a massive scale transferring plants (and sometimes insects) around the globe, and finding that new, incomer species, can wipe out the unique local habitat with its hundreds of species that took so many thousands of years to evolve, in a very short time. Himalyan Balsam is doing just that in some areas, particularly river banks.
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That's the standard opinion on most things nowadays and just about everything from a football club losing a match to the price of carrots is put down to global warming.
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Suzy Peters
14/2/2017 05:20:44 pm
Hi Derek, I'm really interested to know where or how you heard about the damaging effect of Oilseed pollen. Because if this is really true then that would be another huge factor to the collapse of bees colonies worldwide since Bee population is down 30% from those pollenating Oilseed crops. I have now messaged a few beekeeper forums asking this same question. Many thanks. Suzy Peters
Julia
4/11/2017 10:22:58 am
Absolutely share your concerns re oilseed rape and bees.
Andrew Softley
21/1/2018 10:58:59 am
Himalayan Balsam is a saving grace for honey bees and other insects in the North West. In years when the Balsam doesn't produce a good amount of nectar, I usually end up having to feed my bees sugar syrup in the Autumn for them to have enough food to survive the winter.
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