Whether the orange biflora or the yellow pallida, jewelweed is a wonderful plant. It's juicy stems are useful against almost any skin irritation. The juice calms a fresh bee sting, takes away the horrible burning of stinging nettles, and neutralizes poison ivy. Since I grow nettles to attract butterflies, having jewelweed around is a big plus. As far as I can tell, it lures Japanese beetles away from your other plants better than the traps they sell.
The oblong seed pods bring out the kid in me. If one is patient and waits until they are just big enough, a single touch will explode the pod sending the seeds in all directions. I think tomorrow might be a good day to touch these. Wild Man Steve Brill says the seeds are edible. I have in fact tried them, but to me they are not tasty enough to be worth catching. I would much rather have next year's plants.
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