Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Pretties because of a kindness (Impatiens balfourii)

Updated 22nd January 2017:  A lot of us, myself included, thought the little flower shown in this post was perhaps a type of orchid. I had no idea, and no one else did either, until fellow Blogger, Jenny Woolf suggested it may be some kind of balsam. 
I love researching things, so I set out in that direction and, yes, Jenny was spot on! 
Wikipedia, refers to it as "..being a species of the genus Impatiens known by the common names Balfour's touch-me-not, Kashmir balsam, and poor man's orchid.  It belongs to the family Balsaminaceae." 
So, thank you Jenny, you cleared up that identity crisis beautifully! Cheers :D)
Here's my original post of 18th January 2017:

These tiny, delicate flowers are enjoying their protected corner in our shadehouse:

This planter was a gift from a lady we'd met briefly when we lived in a unit for a couple of years.
She was moving out and popped over to say goodbye and that she'd left a couple of pots behind for us to keep.
She added that she was sure we'd get a nice surprise with one in particular that was newly planted:

... and we did:

They now live in our shadehouse back home and are a yearly treat:


~ Thank you for your visit... have a peaceful and happy week ~

Linking with much pleasure to Riitta's:


and to Nick's:

57 comments:

  1. These flowers are so delicate & beautiful, like tiny butterflies! Do you know their name? Thank you so much for linking at my Floral Bliss. Have a lovely day Sue!

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    1. Thanks Riitta, they are! No I don't know their name and I'm astounded at how many orchids exist when I did searches. Hopefully, someone may be able to help. Cheers now :D)

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  2. oooh how sweet of her and how beautiful these flowers are. a trumpet - with a little orchid mixed in, do you know the name?? they are a beautiful color and it looks as though you have a lot more coming!!!

    what a nice reminder she left behind!!!

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    1. It was, we enjoyed talking about gardening, it was lovely of her.
      It's such a prolific little plant and seems to love its corner, all sheltered. Keep warm Debbie ;D)xx

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  3. What a wonderful gift. These are special orchids. Have a very nice day.

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    1. Thanks Nicole, it came as a most beautiful surprise. Cheers now :D)

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  4. How beautiful they are Sue. That was a very lovely gift and one that is recycled to keep giving.
    Sorry that I can't help you identify them...I am not very good with plant names~

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    1. This is its third year of flowering now Jan so, yes, you're quite right :D)
      My knowledge is limited, after searching through photos I right clicked on one of my photos to do a "Search Google for image" and the answer came back... "Best guess for this image: flower" ha ha, well at least that's confirmed ;D)

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  5. Sue, your photos are gorgeous!!! Thank you so much for sharing, it is always a pleasure to see your posts in my news feed! :)

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    1. That's really sweet of you to say, thanks Linda :D)

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  6. They are dainty and beautiful flowers! What a lovely gift. Have a great day, Sue! Sending hugs! ♥

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    1. Their colour is what I also like about them too Suzanne, they bob about in the breeze, so pretty to have. Cheers now :D)xx

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  7. Love the title of this post. The delicate orchids are such a lovely reminder.

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    1. Appreciate that Vicki. It's always a lovely experience when our paths cross with kind people isn't it. Neither of us exchanged our email addresses which I regret because I'd certainly like to let her know how much we enjoy her gift.
      Cheers now :D)xx

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  8. when people give each other flowers i always wish they should give each other plants planted in small pots that last long and are precious to have in homes and in memories!
    i am glad that she left these pot for you dear and see how nice that they are still blooming in such cold weather too .
    i am sure they will not let you forget her until you have them .
    have a wonderful days ahead dear friend!

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    1. Yes, Baili, thank you, that's a lovely wish. I also like to have plant cuttings from family and friends' gardens... it's nice walking through and seeing which plant came from who etc.
      It's Summer now in Australia and while we may not be experiencing as high temperatures as our Northern States, we in the South East have had up to 34 deg C (around 94 deg F) in the past couple of weeks. That's when these dear little plants start to bloom.
      Thanks for your visit and good wishes to you too :D)

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  9. A beautiful surprise, how lucky they landed in your caring hands!

    Thank you for your kind visit and words on my blog!

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    1. It was - and it's been really lovely sharing this with everyone.
      Thanks for popping over. Cheers now :D)

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  10. So nice of your friend to gift you this plant and it is indeed a wonderful surprise. The flowers are so pretty and cute. I have not seen this flower before.

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    1. Hi Nancy, nice to have you visit. I didn't realise there'd be such sweet flowers when it first started to grow, the seedlings looked quite unremarkable! Never judge a book ... eh! Cheerio :D)

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  11. Hello, the flowers are so cute and tiny. What a nice surprise, the flowers will have a happy new home. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and the weekend ahead!

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    1. Hi Eileen, and yes most definitely the flowers are in a happy place.
      Enjoy your day too and thanks for your visit :D)

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  12. What a beautiful gift. The flowers are so pretty and dainty.

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    1. It was Barbara, we love them and the thought behind them, thanks very much for popping over. Cheers :D)

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  13. Lovely tiny flowers. So nice too look at.

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    1. Hello Birgitta, I agree, tiny flowers most definitely have their place in our gardens :D)

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  14. Very beautiful, your photography is great!

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  15. I've seen this little sweetie before, but do not know its name!

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    1. Thanks for having a look Tom, so very many orchids in this world!! :D)

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  16. Calling by from Floral Friday Fotos, beautiful delicate blooms.

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    1. Very nice to see you, thanks for your visit and comments LindyLou. Enjoying our florals! :D)

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  17. Those are very pretty. They look like a kind of balsam but maybe I am wrong. Did you ever find out the name of them?

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    1. Hello Jenny, still looking to identify them.
      Yes their delicate stems are similar to a balsam, will research in that area - thanks for that.
      Cheers :D)

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    2. Jenny, I've been going down the Balsam (Impatiens) road to research this flower and, YES you were spot on, it is an Impatiens balfourii confirmed by, amongst many others, Wikipedia. Here's a link Impatiens_balfourii "Impatiens balfourii is a species of the genus Impatiens known by the common names Balfour's touch-me-not, Kashmir balsam,[1] and poor man's orchid. It belongs to the family Balsaminaceae."
      Their photo is an exact match, as are other references to that species.

      So, Jenny, thank you - you've steered us in the right direction! :D)

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  18. A lovely gift, what beautiful and delicate flowers they are

    All the best Jan

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    1. Hi there Jan, delighted you left your thoughts. Enjoy your day whatever you do :D)

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  19. Such sweet and delicate little flowers.

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    1. Dear Lynda, so lovely aren't they - I must check if they've a perfume, never thought to do that until this moment :D)

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  20. those flowers are so beautiful!!

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    1. They surely are Sandy. How lovely to see you again. Cheers now :D)

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  21. How nice that you got such a lovely surprise!

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    1. It was - and I love surprises like that. Cheers Bettyl, thanks for popping over :D)

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  22. What an exquisite little flower. Is it a native do you think. The leaves don't really look orchid like. It would be great to find out exactly what it is. What a gift.

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    1. Hi Liz, lovely to have you visit :D)
      A fellow blogger, Jenny Woolf, suggested it may be a type of balsam, so I pursued that and just now came up with an identification firstly from Wikipedia. It's known as a poor man's orchid and is an Impatiens balfourii. So there we go, I'll do an update on this post.

      Cheers now :D)

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  23. Dearest Sue; Oh, I'm so sorry for my late comment! 
    I LOVE this beautiful and sweet pink (my favorite color) flower♡♡♡ And I was SO fascinated that it's known as "a poor man's orchid". As my blog name is 'orchid', my husband might be the 'POOR MAN' p:-) I told about the name to my husband and he(we) had a lovely laugh together♫♫♫ When I started my blog, we had a gifted orchid, that the reason of the naming.
    Thank you so much for introducing this sweet flower and information♩
    Have a wonderful new week.
    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend, xoxo Miyako*

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    1. Hello Miyako - it's so lovely to see you again. No, no need to be sorry, comments left here are never too late! I had been away from my blog for well over a year and so I lost touch with you. Thank you for popping over :D)
      I think that's lovely you and your husband had a laugh about the flower name ... ha ha, yes, and perhaps the Poor Man might reside here in our house too. I had a thought, if they are Poor Men, then we are Rich Women for having such lovely hubbies ;D)
      I just checked and Japan is only 2 hours behind us here in time, so I'll say cheerio and have a lovely evening. :D)xx



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  24. Oh so beautiful! I would have thought orchid first as well, but it's balsam. I had no idea what balsam looks like - well, now I know and I do like it a lot. Does it have a calming scent as well?

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    1. Definitely, Carola, orchid was my immediate thought too.
      Now it opens up a whole new world of flowers of the balsam variety, which I hadn't realised were so beautiful.
      I couldn't detect a scent, but, yes good question - perhaps its subtle ... I shall try again in late afternoon.
      Thanks for popping over!

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  25. Replies
    1. ... and they're such a gorgeous flower, it's always lovely to have found it due to your suggestion Jenny. Cheers :D)

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