Impatiens flowers are one of the dominant bedding plants in North America. 
Their popularity is partly due to their ability to inject vibrant color into those difficult shady areas of the landscape. But impatiens flowers are victims of their own success: "serious" gardeners often refuse to plant them, precisely because of their popularity. Nonetheless, versatile impatiens flowers are also favorites for container gardens, ranging from hanging baskets to window boxes.
Read article: Impatiens Flowers
Photo ©2006 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)
Their popularity is partly due to their ability to inject vibrant color into those difficult shady areas of the landscape. But impatiens flowers are victims of their own success: "serious" gardeners often refuse to plant them, precisely because of their popularity. Nonetheless, versatile impatiens flowers are also favorites for container gardens, ranging from hanging baskets to window boxes.
Read article: Impatiens Flowers
Photo ©2006 David Beaulieu (licensed to About, Inc.)
Comments
I have grown impatiens that are 2 feet 4 and a half inches tall. Is that unusual?
Somewhat, but a lot depends on growing conditions.
I brought my hanging pot of impatents in for the winter. Are they dangerous for pets?
The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Web site lists impatiens as poisonous, saying the stems, leaves and roots, if ingested, can cause diarrhea and vomiting. Although their Web site seems geared more to people than to pets, I, personally, wouldn’t let my pets nibble at impatiens (or any plant I wasn’t sure about, for that matter).
Dear Consultant:
Could you please tell me if impatiens will survive indoors? I have some my deck and would like to bring them in before the frost.
Thanks
karen
You can get a little more enjoyment out of them by bringing them in. But I wouldn’t expect them to flower through the winter. I’ve never known them to perform especially well as flowering houseplants.
Ive placed all my impatiens in a small greenhouse,will they stay in bloom all winter?
Phil,
Assuming proper growing conditions, they should re-bloom. If they stagnate at some point or get out of control, give them a good “haircut” with a pair of scissors — that will rejuvenate them.
planted 6 flats of impatiens a week ago looked great weather got in the mid 40s in the evening now they look somewhat wilted and the flowers are gone will they come back i treated them with miracle grow
Rather than fertilizing them with Miracle-Gro, I would have given the impatiens a good “haircut” — i.e., cut them back.
My impatiens in my window boxes stopped growing about this time last year. I am nervous about this happening again. My nearby barrels of them are flourishing. What is bugging some of these plants?
1) After the initial planting of impatiens, should they be cut back for fuller growth? 2) Should they be fertilized?
I’ve always had good luck with impatiens but this year they have not flourished. Some look yellowish, small leaves, not flowering much.
Help!
Alison,
Since one planting of impatiens is growing in window boxes and the other in barrels, the difference could be based on container size. Specifically, maybe the impatiens in the window boxes (the smaller container type, with less soil to retain water) aren’t getting enough water. Just a guess.
Considering the condition of your impatiens, yes, I would cut them back and lightly fertilize them (half of what the package’s instructions say).
My impatiens were doing great after coming back from last winter. Now they are being devoured by caterpillars. Are they a host plant for them? If not I’m going to spray them with seven dust so my plants can thrive again.
This is a somewhat unusual problem for impatiens plants, but you may want to read this post about caterpillars on impatiens for some tips.
I have one impatiens plant in a pot on my desk and it still blooms now and then. Is there anything in particular I need to do to it to keep it healthy? It was originally just a sprout in a plastic cup some student at my school abandoned, and I brought it home and repotted it, not knowing what it was until it bloomed. But I’d like to keep it indoors.
I’ve never grown impatiens flowers as houseplants. The most I can do is supply you with the general rules of thumb about growing such plants as houseplants, as discussed within the following link:
Houseplant Care
My daughter gave me one impatiens in May 2005. I always kept it in a pot inside where it grows almost out of control and constantly blooms. Unless I seriously cut it back it can get about 3 plus feet tall. My husband jokes that it will turn into a tree! How often should I fertilize it? Right now I tend to only do it about 2-3 times a year.
Alis,
You relate that your impatiens “grows almost out of control and constantly blooms.” If I interpret that comment correctly — i.e., that you’re happy with how your impatiens is growing — then I must conclude that you’re already doing a good job fertilizing the impatiens and should continue fertilizing as you have been. If I’m misinterpreting you and you’re actually unhappy that your impatiens is growing so vigorously, just cut back on that “2-3 times a year” fertilizing scheduling you’ve been on.
Hello,
I found you while looking for an impatiens picture. And I am amazed.
My impatiens journey started with them as an indoor plant! It was almost ten years before I found out that they love being outside. For 23 years in the same house the plants moved from in to out and back again.
I live in the western side of Michigan.
I live in Sacramento, CA. I see beautiful, thriving, beds of Impatiens all over turn, but I am unable to grow them myself. I’ve tried 3 years in a row now. I use good organic soil, fertilize occassionally with Miracle Gro, and plant in a partly-shaded area. Why don’t my Impatiens grow like everyone elses? Help!
Katie,
Could be you’re overwatering or underwatering your impatiens.
My new guinea impatiens are being eaten down to the stalk by something. I haven’t seen any mites, spiders, or caterpillars. All the leaves and flowers have been demolished. What could be doing it?
I have impatiens that are full of tight blooms, they are not opening, what could be the problem? The plants are 2 feet tall, healthy folage a ton of blooms that will not open. af
Anita,
Not sure if this holds true with impatiens, but I know that, when the buds fail to open on rose of sharon, it can be because of too much water — or not enough. During rainy summers, rot can set in and ruin the flower bud (although you may not notice it from the outside). The same effect can be produced by excessive watering, if you water overhead. Conversely, during dry summers, flower buds may be damaged from drought and fail to open.
I have planted my impatients outdoors. They are sprouting nicely, but I’ve noticed the flower pedals get white spots on them within a few days after sprouting. Is this common?
I bought 2 impatiens at the same time and have them in hanging baskets on my deck. They get 2 hrs of morning sun. One impatiens is blooming nicely. However, the other impatiens has no blooms but is producing new leaves but some leaves are turning black.
Please advise
Thank you
Linda,
I would quickly remove and dispose of the impatiens with the black leaves. It could be Impatiens Necrotic Spot Virus, which can spread to healthy impatiens plants. I wouldn’t try to save the infected one: It’s not worth risking the health of the uninfected one.
We have 3 beds of impatiens, two are thriving and the third has lots of buds but quickly lose the petals. Rumor has it that bunnies like the petals -is this true? Is there a solution without hurting the bunnies?
I have three hanging baskets with impatiens. One of them immediately drains water through the bottom hole whenenver I water it. The other two never do. How much water should they be getting each day.
I started some “Bizzy Lizzie” impatiens inside this year. They have healthy, vibrant foliage – and very slow and stingy with the blooms. Is there some nutrient they need? The impatiens I purchased are doing fine.
my impatiens come back every year on their own. i started out with a dark orange & a white, now i have every color in the book.now my question is, this year i got different color flowers coming out of the same plant. how can they do this?sharyn
Hello, I won a pot of impatiens at a church picnic last year and they are doing well, but a couple of the stalks have sprouted “vines” should I cut them off or let them grow and wrap around on the plant?
April,
Cut them out, so that they do not wrap around your impatiens plants and possibly strangle them.
Lee,
Sometimes with plants (and not just impatiens), foliar growth at the expense of flowering can be due to an excess of nitrogen (the first component in the NPK triad). Check the label of whatever fertilizer you may be using to fertilize your impatiens, and switch fertilizers if the nitrogen number is higher than the others.
Lynda,
The hanging impatiens pot that immediately drains water probably is filled with a more porous soil than the other two hanging impatiens pots. I would repot them all so as to give all three a soil of the same consistency.
No exact amount of water can be specified, because conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) vary so much. Your best bet is to judge by weight. That is, pick up the hanging impatiens pot; if it feels light, give it a thorough watering (as in watering until the water comes out through the bottom of the pot). Don’t water again until it feel light-weight again. You could even weigh it on a scale, if you wanted to get really precise.
I have a container of impatiens that comes back every year and has been beautiful. This year, although growing, the leaves have started to curl and it has stopped blooming. Do you know what the problem is?
Susan,
Leaf curl is common on impatiens. Here’s what to do:
Step 1: check for aphids. If you find any aphids, spray with neem oil.
Step 2: if aphids aren’t responsible for the leaf curl on your impatiens, then you may be overfeeding them. Try cutting back on the fertilizer.
I have Impatiens growing in my paludarium (aquarium/half water half land).
The plant is submerged about 2 cm below the water surface growing in mainly gravel with a trace-elements aquatic root tab. buried in the gravel.
They’ve been there 4 months and look a completely different plant from their siblings outside. So much healthier- strong large glossy leaves.
I’ve had to trim them back to prevent them growing into the lighting fixture above.
I had heard that impatiens like to stay damp, so I thought I’d experiment with them in my paludarium and I’m glad I did… it’s doing better and stronger in there than any of my plants sold to me as aquatic plants.
I only do very low doses of aquatic plant fertiliser. (Brightwell Aquatics brand) because I have several species of freshwater shrimp- and dwarf cajun crayfish (Cambarellus Shufeldtii) these invertibrates can be sensitive to fertilisers.
Most of the fertilisation in the water comes from the waste of the animals in the paludarium themselves.
I highly recommend for anyone with a Paludarium. I don’t know how deep under water they can be planted… at just a few cm they’re doing well.
i had beautiful impatiens all summer but one set of the (i planted in twos one behind the other) had some greenish-yellow vine with green ugly looking balls like thing grew around them and kill them now the vine has spread to now the one beside it but skipped one and killed the next. i tried to remove the vine thing off of it but it just came back what seemed like madder than before. im not to mad about them dying because i live in ohio and it’s late sept. they wouldn’t have lasted much longer. but i wonder what it is and will it come back next year when i try to plant impatiens
Maisie,
Please post a picture of the vine mixed in with your impatiens in my Landscaping Forum, so we can help you identify it.
I planted a hanging pot of impatiens (Green Bay, WI). I watered it and used Miracle Grow. It remained healthy and green all summer but only had one or two blossoms. Now, Oct. 9th, it is quite full of blossoms. I am perplexed. I used good potting soil too. Whatever was the problem?
Mary,
Without more information, it’s hard to say why your impatiens failed to bloom. But I wouldn’t rule out that perhaps you used too much fertilizer on them. Try cutting back (and/or switching to another fertilizer) next year.
My impatiens plants partially froze last night. When do I cut those parts back? Now or wait till there’s no fear of more freezing weather?
Marilyn,
If it were my impatiens, I would cut off the frosted parts and then be prepared to cover them (with a sheet or light blanket, perhaps) when the next frost is imminent.
Are impatiens sensitive to having something touch their leaves, such as mulch? Approx. two weeks ago we spread mulch around the base of our impatiens, and now they are beginning to die suddenly. I have impatiens growing all along a long brick walkway. Every night when I water them I’ve been having to remove one or two dead plants. Nothing appears to be wrong with the plant, but the branches of the plant break off when touched as if they are being choked off at the base of the plant.
Joy,
Unless the mulch that you bought was tainted, I would say that the demise of your impatiens and the laying of the mulch are not related.
Your impatients are suffering from stem rot. Water has soaked into the mulch and is now rotting the stems. Back off on the water and water only in the morning. Some may survive, but once stem rot takes hold…there is little hope.
I live in Key West Florida and plant impatiens every October for the winter season. I plant them close together and they reach almost 3 feet high (like a hedge) before they get too leggy around the end of April. My question is: I have one plant which is putting out two different colors of flowers at the same time (Pink and Orange) I have never seen this before in all my years of raising them. Is this normal?