Impatiens niamniamensis

Impatiens niamniamensis, also known as the Zanzibar Impatiens or Parrot's Beak, is a perennial plant full of originality and exoticism, evoking the splendour of African tropical forests. It is a plant with succulent organs, exhibiting strange hooked flowers that resemble bicolored parrot beaks, red and yellow. As ornamental as it is delicate, it will flower indoors or on the veranda throughout the year, or from summer to autumn in open ground. Its rapid growth allows it to be grown as an annual. This very beautiful plant thrives in shade or partial shade, in humus-rich, fertile, very moist but well-drained soil.

Impatiens niamniamensis, sometimes called Niam-niam, Zaire Impatiens or Parrot Impatiens, is a perennial plant from the Balsaminaceae family, native to the tropical areas of East Africa, mainly Congo, Zaire and Zanzibar. Its natural environment corresponds to the humid and shaded atmospheres found in the bush and swamp forests. The plant forms a bushy clump of 40 to 80cm (16 to 32in) in height and 70cm (28in) in width in a few months. Its succulent, thick and stiff stems bear green, ovate to lanceolate leaves with crenate lamina, attached to the stem by a long petiole. The flowering is almost continuous when the plant is kept above 15°C (59°F). When planted in open ground in the garden, it will flower throughout its growth before being cut back by the cold, below 5°C (41°F). The surprising and brightly coloured flowers of the 'Red and Yellow' selection have petals arranged in the shape of a parrot's beak: the lower petal is extended by a hooked spur about 5cm (2in) long. Each flower is bicoloured, with a yellow 'beak' at the base and a red tip. If you can observe the fruit, rare in cultivation, you will see a fusiform capsule that, when ripe, explodes upon the slightest contact, projecting countless small seeds up to 1 metre (3 feet) around the plant.

The Zanzibar Impatiens is an atypical and unusual plant, one of the most whimsical plant creatures that nature has provided us with. Little known to indoor plant enthusiasts, it is nevertheless easy to grow at home or in the garden. It requires little maintenance, apart from careful watering. It can be grown as an annual in shaded beds with moist soil, accompanied for example by hostas or Heucheras. But it is in the warm house or veranda that this luxuriant plant will fully show its potential, providing an exotic decoration even in the heart of winter. Note that this impatiens naturally forms a beautiful bonsai.

Note: Attention, our young plug plants are professional products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, transplant and store them under shelter (veranda, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C (57.2°F) for a few weeks before being installed outdoors once the risk of frost is definitively eliminated.