Impatiens

Welcome to Tuesday Plant Talk with Stretch

Today I’m going to talk about the Impatiens plant. My Human Sidekick is muttering something about that being a good choice because I’m pretty impatient when I don’t get my way. I don’t know what she’s talking about, so let’s just continue with the plant talk and ignore her.

The Impatiens plant is a native of Zanzibar, although I think mine came from a factory in China, which is appropriate because I read that in ancient China women used mashed Impatiens petals mixed with orchid and rose petals to make nail polish. They thought dyed fingernails kept away evil spirits.

The Impatiens is one plant that doesn’t get its name from some strange story in Greek mythology. It’s called the Impatiens because at the slightest touch it will release and scatter its seeds. So that’s why some people call it the “Touch Me Not” plant. Except in Great Britain where it’s known as the “Busy Lizzie.” Don’t ask me how they came up with that name, they apparently were inspired by the ancient Greeks in naming plants.

And if any of my readers suffer from some human condition called “hemorrhoids” you might be interested in knowing that the Impatiens plant produces an anti-inflammatory that is an active ingredient in Preparation H. So next time you see an Impatiens, you might want to thank it.