Master Gardener Ann Bartlett helps you fill your spring garden with colorful impatiens.
I often use caladiums or coleus in containers because their vivid foliage looks great throughout the growing season. Last spring I discovered New Guinea impatiens with colorful variegated foliage that bloomed prolifically and never needed deadheading, a great accent for shade. In my garden, they bloomed from late April until mid-October.
In my landscape, annuals need to meet certain criteria. First, they must fulfill their role throughout the growing season. That means they must perform until autumn is in the air without pausing between bloom cycles. (The pause privilege is reserved for roses.) Second, they must have light, water, and soil requirements that fit with those of the permanent plantings. And they must “pop” visually to fulfill their role as accent plants.
When it comes to impatiens, I choose between these colorful, accommodating types:
- Native to New Guinea, Impatiens hawkeri typically have dark green, burgundy, or variegated foliage underlying orange, pink, red, purple, or white flowers. Tolerant of morning sun, they grow 12 to 18 inches tall and 6 to 9 inches wide. Heavy feeders, they need consistently moist soil. You must purchase plants to transplant because hybrids do not grow from seed.
- Impatiens walleriani have long been the “go to” annual for shade. (Alas, downy mildew, which began affecting impatiens in the UK in 2004 and slowly spread worldwide, had wiped them out by 2011. Plant hybridizers reintroduced disease-resistant cultivars in 2019 and 2020.) Some like it hot—and these do best when temperatures have warmed to around 80 degrees. They need moist, well-drained soil and like to be fertilized every two weeks.
- SunPatiens® are a cross between New Guinea and standard impatiens. Flourishing in sun or shade, these are patented products of the Sakata® Corporation, which closely guards the identity of the parent plants. Available in an array of colors, they promise three seasons of performance. They may be planted when soil temperatures reach about 60 degrees. Though more tolerant of dry conditions than other impatiens, they must be kept moist for the first week to 10 days after planting. Feed them with a slow-release fertilizer at half the rate recommended on the label. They will spread 2 to 3 feet, depending on the cultivar.
- Impatiens balsamina, balsam, is the sun loving member of the clan. They are native to India, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, where they are a source of traditional medicine. Happy in a wide range of soils, balsam produces pink, purple, lavender, red, white, or bicolor flowers that attract bees and nectar feeding birds. The somewhat toxic foliage prevents deer from browsing. These impatiens self-sow from pods that explode to disperse the seeds, hence the common name “touch-me-not.”
Like many gardeners, I look forward to visiting garden centers early in the season to see what annuals are available. In spite of having tried-and-true favorites, I avoid using the same cultivars from one year to the next. After all, variety is the spice of life!