André Karwath aka Aka · CC BY-SA 2.5
Small balsam
Plant·Impatiens parviflora
Part shade
Sun
Medium
Water
Moist soil
Drainage
Zones 4–8
Hardiness
Small balsam (Impatiens parviflora) is a plant. It grows best in part shade and has moderate water needs.
Through the year
Out of seasonLeafing outFloweringFruitingDying back
Works well with
from wiki dataNo companions recorded.
WHAT IT NEEDS
Tolerates part shade
Needs moderate water
Tolerates moist soil, as long as it drains well
Prefers soil pH 5.5–7
Show moreShow less
Prefers loam, sandy loam soil
Struggles in compacted soil
Adds a moderate amount of organic matter to the soil
WHAT IT GIVES
Gives mulch biomass (medium)
Attracts pollinators
HOW IT GROWS
SIZE & SPACING
Herbaceous
Height20–60 cm
Spacing20 cm (min 15 cm)
Root depthShallow
Width15–30 cm
Width figures are rough estimates, the most variable measurement in our data.
AI estimate · accuracy improves as growers contribute corrections.
HOW TO PROPAGATE
Propagate by seed
Difficulty
Establishes in about 1 yr
Self-seeds freely and can spread on its own
Where this comes from
Parsed11 Sept 2026
ConfidenceNot recorded
Photograph André Karwath aka Aka · CC BY-SA 2.5