Do not eat impatiens or use it for cooking - there are hundreds of varieties of this tropical plant and so folklore about how to use it can lead to mistaken identity about what variety to use. Impatiens was originally called balsam plant or Touch-me-not as the seed pods explode upon touch but new cultivars are more tender and shorter so we rarely see the tall and invasive species impatiens that were once used for topical ointments. I love impatiens because they flower even in deep shade. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti