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Impatiens

White and orange impatiens

Credit: Angela Altomare
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Botanical name: Impatiens

Plant type: Flower

USDA Hardiness Zones: 10, 11

Sun exposure: Part Sun

Soil type: Loamy

Soil pH: Neutral


Flower color: Red, Pink, Orange, Yellow, Purple, White

Bloom time: Summer, Fall

Impatiens is a beautiful annual that makes an excellent houseplant or summer bedding plant. It is also known as "Busy Lizzie" and its name is a Latin word that describes the way its seeds shoot out of its pods when ripe (the slightest touch can make a ripe impatiens seed pod burst open and scatter its seeds). Impatiens like shade and moisture.

Planting

  • Plant impatiens transplants after the last spring frost in humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil. Make sure the plants have some shelter from the wind.
  • The closer impatiens plants are, the taller they will grow, so space accordingly (impatiens plants can grown anywhere between 6 and 30 inches tall). For flower beds, plant 8 to 12 inches apart so the plants will stay low to the ground.
  • You can mix in compost or a slow-release fertilizer before transplanting to help the plants.
  • If you have impatiens plants in containers, use a sterile or soil-less growing mixture to ensure better drainage for the plants.

Care

  • The most important thing to remember about impatiens plants is to water them regularly. Keep them moist, but not too wet. If the plants dry out, they will lose their leaves. If you over-water the plants, this could encourage fungal diseases.
  • Remember container plants will need more water.

Pests

Recommended Varieties

  • Tom Thumb Series (Impatiens balsamina), which is a dwarf variety with large, double, brightly colored flowers.
  • Super Elfin Series (Impatiens walleriana), which is a spreading plant with a wide variety of pastel colors.
  • Swirl Series (Impatiens walleriana), which have pretty pink and orange flowers whose petals are outlined in r

E-Cards

Click here to send a free e-card of this pretty impatiens flower.

Click here to see other images of impatiens flowers.

Comments

By Anonymous on May 19

I just got impatients yesterday from seeds. I got this little growing kit. I normaly have a green thumb but now I am really confused. I have gone to different websites and they all say something different. Should I put them I'll in derrect sun or partail sun? Help me please

By Anonymous on May 6

I got a Inpatien plant that was dying from a store, and it has come back just fine, but it says it needs full sun 8+ hours a day. the name on it isSunPatiens..
I need to plant it in a bed, please tell me why some say less sun and this one more??

By Anonymous on May 16

I just saw those at a store the other day and I believe they are bread to tolerate larger amounts of sunlight. Which I think is awesome, as I have wanted to plant them in my yard but get too much sun to plant the traditional ones

By Anonymous on April 25

I saw today (25th April 2013) Impatiens Plants in Tesco, looking very healthy and at a reasonable price! However, in my experience we are wasting our time here in Tayside in the East of Scotland any time before 1st June at the VERY earliest as we can get late frosts hre, right in the heart of Raspberry growing country, even into early June. Have Tesco no idea when to market plants in each part of the country? It seems to me that they market their plants in accordance with conditions in Kent or some such mild and warm place down in the South of England. Who is the fool? It's not me 'cos I certainly won't buy them at this stage of the Season and it is certainly not them either as there are more fools out there who will buy them and thus make more profits for Tesco at their own personal cost.
A totally disgusted Gardener in the Heartland of Scotland!

By Almanac Staff

Are you having trouble finding impatiens in garden centers this spring (2013)? Did the ones you planted last year struggle to grow or develop mildew? Read why here:
http://www.almanac.com/blog/annuals/impatient-impatiens

By Anonymous

Last spring, I was given a small plant-gift in a plain dark plastic pot -about 4 inches square. I kept it on a filing tray at my desk at work and kept it watered. It bloomed more than 5 pretty blossoms, then just seemed to give up. Over the months, each green leaf fell, until I ended up with a "Charlie Brown" impatiens. I had about 4 stems with 2 to 3 leaves each - right at the tip. A co-worker gave me a slightly bigger pot, and some soil with Miracle Gro in it. I waited over a month, then one day decided to replant using the extra soil. I didn't remove the soil around the roots, but simply added the new to the bottom and around the edges, then some extra on top. That was just before Thanksgiving! I no longer have an impatiens plant - I have an im"bush"iens. And we're just past Valentine's Day! It just dropped 3 more blossoms, and there's another bud growing. I'm not a Master Gardener, and can't even claim to be a regular gardener, but this impatiens is the best plant ever! I intend to keep it going, too!

By Anonymous

My inpatiens were all doing great. On one side of the yard they are beautiful. On the other, not too good. It looks as though they are being eaten away. Can I put a systemic on them, or will it harm them?

By Almanac Staff

Earwigs and Japanese beetles can cause damage to impatiens. Try an insecticidal soap spray. Reapply after a rain. Good luck!

By Anonymous

I have had an impatiens plant in an indoor pot in my room for 10 years now. It has recently started to droop and die, I noticed that the base of the stems seem to thin out and turn yellow. I have also noticed insects that look like fruit flies in the soil. I have tried insect killer and it hasn't worked. Please give me advice! I love this plant haha

By Anonymous

TRANSPLANT IT OUTSIDE THEY LOVE IT OR THEIR LIFE SPAN IS SHORT IT IS GREAT YOU HAD IT OR THEM THIS LONG. i WOULD TIP THE TOPS PLANT OUTSIDE AFTER DEAD HEADING AND PUTTING IN FRESH DIRT AND SPRAY WITH NEEM OIL

By Almanac Staff

Ten years?! That's remarkable. It's really difficult to know what you might be dealing with, but of course it doesn't sound good. Here are a few things you can try:
• Reduce the humidity and maintain good air circulation.
• Repot the plant in pasteurized pathogen-free media.
• Do not take cuttings of the plant for propagation.
Alternatively, you could take the plant to a local nursery for an opinion. Seeing the problem may help to solve it more quickly.
Good luck!

By Anonymous

Impatiens grow readily from seeds. By planting seeds you get much more bang for your buck and have a wider variety of plants.

By Anonymous

I have never been able to keep any plant alive. But my daughter gave me impatients for mothers day and I have some how kept it alive in a pot in my house over the summer. But now that it is cold outside and the heat is on it has stopped blooming and is losing all its leaves. What can I do to get it to come back to life? Would cutting back the stems help it? I have a always had a black thumb, and have been so happy to keep it alive for so long. Can anyone help me? I would appreciate it so much! Thanx

By Almanac Staff

Make sure that your plant is getting bright, indirect light, from a southern window or grow lights. Make sure that the soil is consistently moist, but not waterlogged. Do not fertilize over winter. Keep the plant in temperatures around 70 to 75 degrees F; do not let night temperatures dip lower than 55 F. Also check for diseases or pests such as spider mites, mealybugs, thrips, or whiteflies, which can suck plant sap and may eventually cause leaves to fall. If all else fails, take a cutting, root it in water, and plant it in a pot when the roots are established. Hope this helps!

By Anonymous

I received two beautiful pots of pink impatiens for Mother's Day and am amazed that they still continue to put out blooms and the leaves are great. They do wilt from wind or lack of water, but boy do they ever spring back with some attention. I've never had impatiens before. Didn't know they bloomed this long. I also didn't know they were annuals. I just finished putting them in the ground. Thought I'd get a head start on the frost. I guess I've got to dig them back out again now.

By Almanac Staff

Impatiens are very sensitive to cold weather so you need to bring the plants indoors before you have that first frost. Put them in a sunny location. You can also take cuttings from your plants and root them in water on a windowsill.

By Anonymous

I too am losing my impatiens. Usually September is when my gardens shine, the extreme heat effects are gone and everyone is gorgeous, but my Impatiens are losing leaves like crazy and I'm wondering if I pinch back the naked stems will anything return? The plants are in containers and in the ground! What is going on?

By Almanac Staff

Impatiens like warm weather. They start loosing leaves when it gets colder. You can pinch back the stems and maybe you'll have some new growth before it gets even colder.

By Anonymous

Downy mildew a huge problem again this year. The UK USA and various Canadian cities impacted by this fungal disease. One day you have lush full looking beds of impatiens the next day you see them collapsing to the ground resembling a dead spider. When they get to this stage remove infected plants asap. Place them in garbage bags and put them out for garbage pickup. Do not put into compost pile due to fungal spores.These same spores can survive and overwinter in floral beds. Do not plant impatiens in same beds the following year as they are suceptible to this fungal disease. Rotate your crop ... try coleus or new guinea impatiens which are hardy against downy mildew. I hope this helps. From an avid gardener in Toronto Canada.

By Anonymous

I thought I was the only one saddened by the sudden death of impatiens. I plant impatiens every year and this year my rainbow of color turned to stems...it has been an ungodly hot summer here in Michigan, so I increased my daily watering via sprinkler hoses on timers...perhaps that was a mistake...

By Anonymous

Shall I keep for next season? Will the plants come back?

By Almanac Staff

You can overwinter impatiens inside in a place with lots of light and warmth; they are damaged by the lightest frost. If they start to shed leaves, cut them back so that they can resprout foliage.
Otherwise, impatients are an annual. So if you can't keep them going, you'll need to get more plants for next year.

By Anonymous

If your impatiens get to long and "leggy", you can also take cuttings and root them in water to start new plants. For plants I grow outside, I will cut back before the first frost and leave the cuttings in water in a sunny window til spring and then plant them outside.

By Anonymous

last year we planted other flowering plants in our plot area- around the impatient whites- these were the euphoria and pointsettia- the impatient has since fought its way above and beyond the growth of these other plants, and is still blooming- but it has become very leggy, we wish to trim it back and clear around it so it may continue as it was before. its base root stock is over 3" in diamiter and branching everywhere! thank you for your tip- we love our impatiece!

By Anonymous

You may need to water 4 or 5 times a day in hot weather even if the plants are in 85-90% shade.

By Anonymous

The same thing happened to me....I have planted for years and this year they were blooming and beautiful then poof no flowers ot leaves just stems.....will they start budding again or is time to just give up?

By Anonymous

stop fertalizing. they will recover

By Anonymous

check out downy mildew on the web it happened to mine too.I was told to pull them all out and wait 3 years before planting them again. That is a very long time.

By Anonymous

I have planted impatiens for many years. But this year they have all died; just dropped dead, what is the problem?

By Anonymous

It happen to all of us too I heard that there is a virus into the ground this year very sad

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