This little perennial flowering balsam is not so much seen as it was a dozen years ago. Nearly all the year it is covered with bright scarlet flowers and is chiefly valuable as a bright flower for the greenhouse in summer when most of our flowering plants are done. It roots readily from cuttings in warm sand, or can be raised from seed. A rather rich, open soil suits it, with plenty of water. Plants in 4-inch and 5-inch pots are most useful.

Being from tropical Africa, it should not be kept lower than 55 degrees in the winter, but any greenhouse does it well in summer, and it does not want much shade.

When plants get shabby from the want of a shift it is cheaper and better to throw them away, as young and thrifty plants are so easily raised.