Jewelweed is favorite food of migrating ruby-throated hummingbirds: How to grow it

I’ve been thinking a lot about jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) after learning that its nectar is a favorite food for migrating ruby-throated hummingbirds. The timing of the southerly migration of northeastern ruby-throats coincides with the peak flowering season for jewelweed. Most people wouldn’t think of wildflowers as a barrel of laughs; however, jewelweed can, I think, be considered a ‘fun’ wildflower.

Jewelweed is a member of the impatiens family, growing up to 5 feet tall with small, bright orange flowers. Rain drops bead up on the hydrophobic (water-repellant) leaves, resembling shimmering jewels as they catch the light, perhaps giving rise to the name jewelweed. Or perhaps, the jewelweed moniker comes from the bright orange, jewel-toned, flowers that light up many a wetland.

Its other common name, touch-me-not, comes from its seed pods; this is where the fun comes in. Like other impatiens the seed pods explode when touched. This method of seed dispersal is called explosive dehiscence- the plant ballistically disperses seeds using the mechanical energy stored in specialized parts of the seed pod. Find a nice swollen seedpod and then touch it, the seedpod bursts open shooting seeds in all directions. This is what makes jewelweed so much fun for children and easily amused adults like myself. What makes this an even more pleasurable pursuit is that the seeds are edible and have a delicious nutty flavor.

I was thinking about the hummingbird-jewelweed connection and wondering how easy it would be to propagate jewelweed. According to the U.S. Forest Service “Jewelweed is a widespread and common plant that occurs in moist, semi-shady areas throughout northern and eastern North America. It often forms dense, pure stands in floodplain forests and around the forested edges of marshes and bogs. Jewelweed also colonizes disturbed habitats such as ditches and road cuts. It can be an aggressive competitor in its favored habitats and is one of the few native North American plants that has been shown to compete successfully against garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which is a non-native invasive weed that threatens many eastern North American forests.”

This means that jewelweed is easy to propagate with the additional benefit that it can crowd out the highly invasive garlic mustard. I have friends who have draped a whole riverbank in black plastic to try to get rid of their garlic mustard. What if, instead, they planted jewelweed? You can buy jewelweed seeds online or collect your own starting right about now. Just scatter them in any wet, semi-shade and see if they take. At my house they grow most robustly along the side of a hill behind my house that has a shady western exposure and lots of wet, mucky soil. The U.S. Forest Service recommends direct sowing fresh seed in the early fall. And, once established, a patch will maintain itself through annual seed production. You can even plant it in your garden-it likes slightly acidic soil, rich in organic material (dig in some compost and use a lot of mulch) along with evenly moist soil (so you might need to water it during dry spells) Plant them close together-this is a plant that thrives in a crowd since the stems support each other.

So, if you live almost anywhere in the U.S. (except for the arid southwest), consider planting or encouraging jewelweed to grow anywhere it can. In addition to attracting hummingbirds, bumblebees and butterflies, and many people are fans of its cheery orange flowers.

Susan Pike, a researcher and an environmental sciences and biology teacher at Dover High School, welcomes your ideas for future column topics. Send your photos and observations to spike3116@gmail.com. Read more of her Nature News columns online at Seacoastonline.com and pikes-hikes.com, and follow her on Instagram @pikeshikes .

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Jewelweed is favorite food of migrating ruby-throated hummingbirds: How to grow it