Impatiens stenantha

Hardy Impatiens Balsaminaceae

A rather refined member of the hardy Himalayan balsams, Impatiens stenantha forms a compact, bushy plant with dark reddish stems and handsome, broadly lance-shaped leaves, often flushed attractively with red. From summer well into autumn it produces a succession of small, narrow, spurred flowers in warm yellow-orange, the throats neatly speckled red. They are not the largest Impatiens flowers, but their combination of colour and elegant form makes them surprisingly conspicuous in shade.

Native from Nepal and Sikkim eastwards through Tibet and north-western Yunnan to northern Myanmar, it occurs in the understorey of mixed forest and thickets, generally at cooler, higher elevations, between 600-2000 metres. Kew currently accepts I. stenantha as a distinct species, although I. angustiflora has historically been treated as synonymous with it. 

Give it a humus-rich, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil in partial shade, preferably somewhere sheltered from drying winds. The RHS rates it H4, and it has proved a dependable hardy perennial in British gardens. 

Height: 30–40cm
Spread: 30–50cm
Flowering: June–October
Position: Partial shade
Soil: Moist, humus-rich, well drained
Hardiness: H4, approximately −10 to −5°C