Himalayan Balsam

Attractive as these are, and on mass they really are, Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is a non native invader of some veracity. It's a couple of meters in height and will quickly colonize and choke small waterways and wetlands. Once established it can spread at some speed either water-born or through its explosive seeds.  It's a shame, what with it being such an attractive plant, tall and elegant, with it's beautiful flowers, but it must be controlled for the good of our already endangered wetland plant communities. The forestry regularly clear stream banks of it, though it pops up again or pops up elsewhere. Control really is the word, rather than eradication, which I think would be a far harder job. As long as it's managed as it is and not allowed become dominant, it's nice to see it's colours at a time when other plants have already flowered. Hey, it's not as environmentally destructive as  rhododendron say, which must be eradicated at every opportunity, so destructive is it to our environment.