Annuals & Biennials

Impatiens
busy Lizzy, patience plant

- Height 1/2-21/2 ft (15-75 cm)
- Planting distance 1 ft (30 cm)
- Flowers midspring to midfall
- Fertile, well-drained but moisture retentive soil
- Sunny or partially shaded site
- Tender annual

Impatiens are very popular house plants, but introductions of robust F1 hybrids have encouraged gardeners to use them for summer beds, window boxes, tubs, and hanging baskets as well. The hybrids can be relied upon to produce a mass of flowers in shades of red, pink, and white throughout the summer. Combined with the small leaves, they form an attractive ground carpet.

Popular species and cultivars
Impatiens balsamina (rose balsam) has pale green lance-shaped leaves and pink flowers from early summer until early fall. Up to 21/2 ft (75 cm) high, it looks effective in beds. Two popular cultivars come from it.
'Camellia-Flowered Hybrids' have white, pink, rose, and scarlet blossoms resembling those of a camellia. These plants have a spreading habit and reach up to 16-28 in (40-70 cm) high.
'Extra Dwarf Tom Thumb Hybrids' have double blooms in shades of red, carmine-pink, salmon-pink, coral, and white. The dwarf plants reach just 8-12 in (20-30 cm) high and are drought resistant. Impatiens wallerana hybrids include the following.
'Accent Hybrids' grow up to 6 in (15 cm) high, spreading and bearing large flowers. Seeds are available in single or mixed colors of white, pink, salmon, crimson, and violet.
'Blitz Orange' bears many large flowers in warm orange; it grows 9-12 in (23-30 cm) high.
'Double Confection Hybrids' grow 9-12 in (23-30 cm) high, with semi- or fully double flowers in a range of colors.
'Firelake Hybrids,' 1-11/2 ft (30-45 cm) tall, have 2 in (5 cm) wide flowers in a mixture of colors set among foliage bariegated dark red, green, white, or cream.
'Futura Hybrids' have brightly colored flowers and a pendulous habit, making them excellent for hanging baskets. The plants reach 8-12 in (20-30 cm) high. The flowers come in reds, oranges, pinks, and white, either plain or striped.
'King Kong Hybrids' have large flowers in a mixture of reds, pinks, oranges, and whites. The very bushy plants reach 9-12 in (23-30 cm) high.
'Mega Orange Star' is 8-10 in (20-25 cm) high, and weather resistant. The orange-red flowers have white star markings.
'Novette Hybrids,' just 6-8 in (15-20 cm) high, carry big bright red, pink, and orange flowers early in the summer.
'Novette Star Hybrids' are a bicolored mixture of bright red, orange, rose-pink, and violet.
'Pastel Hybrids' are a mixture of dwarf plants (9-12 in/23-30 cm high), bearing flowers in coral, pink, salmon, and white.
'Picotee Swirl' grows to 10 in (25 cm) tall and is early flowering; the white to soft-rose flowers have fuchsia edges to the petals.
'Starbright Hybrids' have spectacularly large bicolored flowers in shades of orange, pink, rose, and violet. The plants grow 6-8 in (15-20 cm) high.
'Super Elfin Hybrids,' 8-10 in (20-25 cm) high, are available as mixtures or single colors.
'Timpo Hybrids,' up to 10 in (25 cm) tall, are of branching and pendulous habit. They are available in seed mixtures and single colors of white, blush-pink, apricot, red, and lavender.
New Guinea impatiens, hybrids bred from plants collected in that Southeast Asian island, are remarkable more for their colorful red- and cream-striped leaves, which may measure 8 in (20 cm) long, than for their flowers. Most must be propagated by cuttings, but two superior cultivars may be started from seed and bear attractive flowers.
'Spectra Hybrids,' about 1 ft (30 cm) high, have white, pink, lilac, and carmine flowers and variegated cream or bronze foliage.
'Tango' bears large deep orange flowers amid bronze-green foliage. The plants are up to 15 in (38 cm) high.

Annuals
and
Biennials