Impatiens Thrive in Little Light : After That First Season in the Ground, They Become Increasingly Leggy and Flower Less

For some, impatiens are far too common to even consider; for others they are a Godsend.

They are very common--the single most popular flower grown in this country--but it is for good reason. They are the only flower that thrives where there is little light. No green thumb is required. And if they look a little like they are molded from plastic it is because they nearly always look good and are nearly always in bloom. You can’t go wrong.

Almost.

The one mistake made with impatiens is leaving them in the ground too long. Many gardeners have learned that they will last longer than a season, but they really should be replanted every year. True, they can be left alone, or cut back, and they will last into the following year, or even longer, but after that first season in the ground they become increasingly leggy and flower less.

Replant Every Spring

And, in a particularly cold year, such as this, you may lose them altogether to a frost. In that case, you must start over again, because they will not come back.

Linda Cooper, the color coordinator for Roger’s Gardens Colorscape in Corona del Mar, makes a point of replanting impatiens every spring, pulling them out in October or November and then replacing them with Primula obconica which looks good all winter.

In the spring, out comes this primrose and in go a new batch of impatiens. It’s a neat switch since the obconica primroses are similarly colored and will grow in the same conditions as the impatiens, but they look their best in winter, while the impatiens look best in summer.

Roger’s is also very careful about color. While you can’t really go wrong, most plantings can use a little fine tuning. For anything other than a very small planting, Colorscape avoids the orange-colored impatiens that often come in a mix, and the bicolored, saving these for containers or where they can stand alone. In most beds they use only the reds and the many shades of pink, plus a lot of white-flowered impatiens. It makes a more harmonious scheme.

Avoiding a Speckled Look

They also avoid alternating colors too abruptly, preferring to plant several of each color in a mass, to avoid a speckled look. To do this, one needs to buy plants that already have at least one flower open, or buy plants by color, not as a mix.

In small plantings, they use the oranges and salmons and even the bi-colors because there are not enough plants to clash, but they still use lots of white, which softens any differences. In the smallest of plantings--in containers--they go back to a simple scheme of pinks and reds.

They also like to break up the plantings with patches of green. The low growing, shade loving baby’s tears is a favorite, often mixed with bronze-leafed ajuga. A surprising combination mixes common parsley with impatiens. White azaleas are another good companion plant and so is the bright blue Cambridge variety of lobelia.

Can’t stand impatiens?

Well, if you feel adventuresome, you might try some of the New Guinea impatiens instead. They are a remarkably different breed, with colorful foliage and flowers that are differently colored, sometimes approaching neon intensities.

Jungles of New Guinea

Up until this year, they were also difficult to find, since they were only discovered in 1970 growing in the jungles of New Guinea, and those that have been available at nurseries tended to be rather leggy and flower-poor.

Now there is a new batch, all cutting grown, coming from the Paul Ecke Ranch in San Diego County. These new cultivars were developed by plant breeder Ludwig Kientzler of West Germany and 18 different kinds will be introduced this year. Most should find their way to retail nurseries. Ecke only sells the cuttings to wholesale growers.

All have French butterfly names and it is important to note that these impatiens are cutting grown, so they do not vary at all. One named Mimas will always be a florescent lilac color; Thecla will always be bright pink with dark red-green foliage; Caligo will always be a soft pink with a lilac eye, and Marumba will always be a shocking red-orange with red-green foliage.

They will all grow to the same height and width, and all are vigorous plants and prodigious flower producers.

More Soil Preparation

Most other impatiens are seed strains--that is, they are grown from seed so the plants are quite similar but not identical. The best are hybrids, which are also seed-grown plants but so similar as to appear identical.

These new impatiens are different in other ways as well. They need more light, and can tolerate a half-day of sun. The grower recommends protecting them from the hot midday sun and suggests an eastern exposure, though they will do well in the late afternoon, western sun.

They also need much more soil preparation. The Ecke Ranch suggests adding quantities of organic matter to the soil to fluff it up: “Make sure the soil is loose, friable and full of organic matter.”

The main reason for this is that the New Guinea impatiens need lots of water and air at their roots and the organic amendments provide both. “In nature, New Guinea impatiens love to grow on the banks of streams with their roots stretching right down into the running water,” says Ecke. Should you forget to water and they wilt, they will perk back up once you rectify the situation.

Double Potting

New Guinea impatiens also require more fertilizing than other impatiens: once a month when in the ground, every two weeks with a liquid if you are growing them in containers.

The ears of container gardeners should have perked up by now because this need for water and fertilizer, and that rich porous soil, cry for a container. That may be the best use for these different impatiens, where their unique coloring can best be seen, though it will be tempting to plant them out in the garden with bronze-leafed bedding begonias. Both have a similar coloration and cultural requirements, the bronze-leafed bedding begonias also thriving with a little more light.

The Ecke Ranch suggests double-potting them when growing in containers. In other words, plant them in one pot, but put that inside another, to provide an insulating barrier from the sun so the roots don’t get too hot. An 8- or 10-inch pot should be about right for one plant; in the ground they should be spaced 18 inches apart because these are low, mounding plants.

With the danger of frost past (or so we hope), now through May is the perfect time to plant impatiens--the New Guineas, or the old standbys.