There are many of these in High Park (Toronto, Ontario). Does anyone know the name of this bush? If you click here, you'll see a pic. http://www.suite101.com/files/topics/17640/files/ForID16.jpg
Royal Impatiens? Just looked that one up . . . http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/spectrum/portraits/500/kew028.jpg Doesn't look like the one I posted. Thanks anyway - an arborist, are you? Good stuff - I'll need to come back and pick your brains with tree questions. Nice to know you're here. Carly
Hey WCW, I think Jimmyq is right or close. The image you got from Kew is a New Guinea Hybrid. I think google found the word royal from the name of Kew to find that image. Try an image search for Himalayan impatiens. See this image
WCW: There are lots of folks here with tons of information to share. ask away and all will join in where they can. Sorry for the common name on the royal impatiens thought, I can never remember the botanical name for it. I have seen it here as a weed in the ditch, neglected gardens and damp field areas. It may be a different variety but its awful close. after a quick google for royal impatiens, I found this within a page ( http://www.nwcb.wa.gov/weed_info/policehelmit.html ) : "Geographic Distribution: Native to India and the western Himalaya. I. glandulifera is considered naturalized throughout the United Kingdom, most of mainland Britain, Ireland, and several of the British Isles. It is found in 18 European countries between latitudes of 30 and 64 N; French Pyrenees, Holland, Germany, the Austrian Alps, Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and parts of Russia. (Beerling and Perrins 1993). I. glandulifera is established in areas of western Washington and in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia (Pojar and MacKinnon 1994)."
I really appreciate this Yes, I realize that you might be right about impatiens - someone else (on Great Lakes forum through the Garden Web) said the same thing. I said 'impatiens'? But they're five foot tall . . . ha ha! Yes - some call them 'touch me nots'. I have done impatiens in planters and they were more or less the same thing - and they exploded when I touched 'em. Well, thanks everyone - again, I appreciate this. Carly
Additional vote for Impatiens glandulifera (or a similar species). This is listed as a pest species here in Washington State, as it tends to proliferate in wetlands.
