BALM OF GILIAD. See Cedronella triphylla and Populus balsamifera.
FIG. 201. CAMELLIA-FLOWERED BALSAM.
BALSAM (Impatiens Balsamina). A well-known ornamental and tender annual, native of India. It is one of the showiest of summer and autumn flowers, and well deserves a place in every garden. Although of comparatively easy cultivation, good blooms and well-grown plants are far too rarely seen. A good Balsam bloom should be quite as double as a perfect Camellia, and to show to the greatest advantage should appear like one in the arrangement of the petals. To secure this, seeds should only be saved from the finest and most perfect flowers, although the quantity must, of necessity, be small. They should be sown, about the third week in March, in properly prepared pans of rich sandy soil, and placed in a gentle bottom heat of about 65deg. As soon as the first rough leaf appears, the plants should be potted off into 3in. pots, care being taken to let the cotyledon, or seed leaves, be close to the soil. When the roots touch the sides of the pots, the plants should be moved into larger ones, and this should be repeated until they are in 8in. or 10in. pots. Some growers place one or two seeds in small pots, so as to avoid the first shift, and a good plan it is. During the time the plants are under glass, they should be kept as near the light as possible, and be frequently turned around, so that they do not draw to one side; and careful training must be given to those that are required in fine form. Disbudding is also necessary to such as are wanted at their best, removing all bloom from the main stem and base of branches until the plants are of sufficient size, and then the buds at the tops will bloom almost simultaneously. The buds that will be formed afterwards will cause a continuance of blossom for a long time, in fact, for some months, if the plants are liberally supplied with liquid manure. If it is desired for them to flower out of doors, the plants should be transferred, about May, to a frame where the heat is not above 50deg., and be kept in a steady growing state, air being admitted on all suitable occasions, cold winds and heavy rains avoided, and water supplied when needed; never allow them to get dry. They require training and disbudding the same as those grown in the greenhouse. About June, the plants should be fully exposed during the day; and, when danger of frost is over, the lights may be kept off altogether. These should bloom at the end of July. In all cases, plenty of drainage must be allowed, as the amount of water required is very great. Insects must be sharply looked after, as well as slugs and snails. There are several sections, such as Camellia-flowered (see [Fig. 201]), Rose-flowered, &c., each containing variously striped, spotted, and entire coloured blooms, and it is best to pay an extra figure to secure a good strain.
BALSAM APPLE. See Momordica Balsaminea.
BALSAMINA. See Impatiens.
FIG. 202. BAMBUSA ARUNDINACEA.
BALSAMINEÆ. A tribe of plants belonging to the order Geraniaceæ. Sepals and petals all coloured, consisting of six segments, "two outer ones small, flat, and oblique; the next large, hood-shaped, ending below in a conical spur; the fourth opposite to it, small, very broad, concave; the two innermost very oblique, and more or less divided into two unequal lobes." The best known genus is Impatiens.