impatiens

Hi,

I've had these in for six months and have been great.

Do they grow every year or just the one off?

thanks

 

So, your question is just to be clear, you have planted impatiens and want to know if they will come back every year. Well it depends. The exact plant will not come back in a zone under 6 not to sure of 7, they are considered annual meaning they die off. However, if you note at the end of the season there are little seed pods that form on the impatiens which will pop open and fly unknown places. If you are lucky, and you don't heavy mulch, some of those seeds will make babies in the spring, and you will find impatiens in the most unusual places, it does work that way for me. Impatiens is considered a good shade flower for its little burst of color. If you want a plant/flower to come back again you need to look for a Perennial - which is a family of plants that come back each year provided you have selected the proper one for your zone. My suggestion, is you get a good plant/flower, beginners gardner good and read it. All these answers, don't happen over night, and before spending your hard earn money on stuff that may not survive, give a settle with a good gardner book.

 

Erm, well all, or part of the above may apply in the US, but in the UK there are only one or two species of Impatiens that are perennial (in other words come back every year) and it is highly unlikely that you would acquire these from the average garden centre/shop or DIY shed.

'Bedding' Impatiens (I. walleriana hybrids) are tender perennials and are treated as annuals. They will not survive a UK winter except in extremely sheltered, frost-free spots in the far south and even then, they become so ragged that they are best discarded and replaced every spring.

As for cost, when you think that you can buy a box of 20 or so plants that give a mass of colour for up to 6 months for less than the cost of a packet of cigarettes or 2 pints of your favourite beer, it's got to be brilliant value for money don't you think?

 

Dave, I don't discard my ragged impatiens at the end of the year. I let them lie, get snowed on and so forth. Then next spring out of the seed pods I usually get some babies.