Brought over in 1839 for its exquisite flowers, Himalayan Balsam is now ravaging our river banks. It grows rapidly and spreads quickly, smothering other plants as it goes. As you walk along the River Crane, you see it standing in pockets of dense thickets on either side, despite hard efforts to keep it at bay.
I am in two minds about whether to draw it. It’s a beautiful plant, growing taller than head height, with large leaves and orchid-like flowers that attract the bees. But it is the bully of the river banks, depriving smaller native plants of light, nutrients and pollinators necessary for survival. When it dies back, it leaves the river banks bare and depleted, where normally plants that flower at other times of year would be able to grow. Insects and birds that feed on these other plants also lose out.
But I think “I’ll just try and pull one up and see“. They are not usually easy to just pull up and if I manage, large leafed weeds often wilt within minutes and don’t recover. That’s been my experience with other large weeds – so disappointing!
It has vicious looking red roots…
To my surprise it comes up easily, bringing a clump of earth with it. I wade back with it in a compost sack, aware I might be spreading its seeds further afield. One plant can produce 800 seeds which, often carried by the river, go on to germinate downstream.
By the time it is in back my studio it has wilted. But I plant it in a bucket, water it and go home, hoping for the best.
The next day it has recovered completely! It just has to be drawn!
Now I feel a sense of guilt. Like my forebears, I couldn’t resist this beautiful plant!
(Though perhaps if they had just drawn it, rather than bringing it back to England, our river banks would be in a much better state!)
