Impatiens pritzelii ‘Sichuan Gold’

Hardy Impatiens Balsaminaceae

A remarkably hardy and floriferous perennial Impatiens, producing soft lemon-yellow flowers with rich golden-yellow throats, held above handsome, dark green foliage. The flowers appear from mid to late summer and continue well into autumn, providing a welcome burst of colour when many woodland plants are beginning to fade. The plant spreads gradually from underground stolons, forming a generous but well-behaved colony rather than becoming invasive.

‘Sichuan Gold’ has particularly good collecting provenance. It arose from a Darrell Probst collection in Sichuan Province, China, originally distributed as Impatiens sp. CPC 19.4.01 #1A. The plant was subsequently identified as I. pritzelii, with Derick Pittman, an acknowledged specialist in the genus, credited with the identification. Juniper Level Botanic Garden records the plant as a Darrell Probst introduction from 2006. 

In cultivation it is an unusually accommodating Impatiens, thriving in partial to light shade in rich, moisture-retentive soil, although established plants tolerate occasional drying better than one might expect. It dies back in winter and returns from its rhizomatous underground growth in spring. Hardy well into the coldest parts of Britain, it is an excellent woodland plant and considerably more restrained than its Himalayan relative I. glandulifera — fortunately, it has not inherited that particular enthusiasm for world domination.

Collection: Darrell Probst, Sichuan Province, China — CPC 19.4.01 #1A; introduced 2006.
Identification: Subsequently identified as Impatiens pritzelii by Derick Pittman.
Distribution: Central China, principally Sichuan and Hubei.
Flowering: August–October
Hardiness: H5, approximately −15 to −10°C
Height: 40–50 cm
Spread: 50–80 cm