Mother of Gardens
HARDY IMPATIENS
Impatiens omeiana
This perennial plant illustrates how Chinese flora is once again
contributing to gardens of the world. It was introduced to the West
as recently as 1983, soon after Deng Xiaoping opened China to
Western travel. American ecologist Don Jacobs collected seed from
impatiens growing wild in the cloud forests of Mount Omei in Sichuan
Province. It was named omeiana after the mountain, a sacred
site of pilgrimage for Buddhists and a mecca for botanists. Wilson
journeyed to the mountain in 1903 and marveled at its biodiversity.
Visitors today can experience the same wonder Wilson did a century
ago.