Growing in shade and sun both, impatiens flowers come in a variety of striking colors! Here are the best Types of Impatiens that you can grow!
With more than 1000 available species, it can be a really daunting task to pick one Impatient. Growing in both shades and sun, this is the most versatile plant that you can plant indoors in small pots and grow in gardens. As most of them have eye-catching flowers and mesmerizing colors, they make for a great addition where ever you are going to plant them. So, do you want to pick the best of the lot? Here are the best Types of Impatiens!
Check out our article on growing impatiens in pots here.
Best Types of Impatiens
Common Impatiens
Botanical Name: Impatiens walleriana
Size: 8-24 inches
Native to Africa, this variety is also known as Touch-me-not, Sultana, and Busy Lizzie. It is the most commonly grown impatiens in North America and performs well in shady or semi-shaded areas. Many sun tolerant and compact cultivars have been developed since the 1960s. The series includes:
1. Accent Series: It produces dwarf, multi-colored, and mounded flowers in spring and summer. This variety prefers partial shade.
2. Blitz Series: Features heat and drought tolerant, large 2-3 inch wide flowers.
3. Carousel Series: Has compact, well-branched plants that offer double flowers.
4. Dazzler Series: Like the name, they come in bright shades of red, pink, white, and orange. It is perfect for containers
5. DeZire Series: Offers versatile plants that are fit for containers, hanging baskets, and garden use.
6. Expo Series: They offer more flowers per plant season and come with a broad range of colors to choose from.
7. Fiesta Series: Forms double flowers and can thrive in both shade or partial shade.
8. Super Elfin Series: It is popular for compact growing habit and plentiful flowers.
9. Super Elfin XP Series: Has dense and uniform growth. Thrives in shady locations.
New Guinea
Botanical Name: Impatiens hawkeri
Size: 10-22 inches
This improved impatiens variety offers large beautiful flowers with multi-colored leaves. It has the ability to tolerate strong sunlight. The best varieties are:
10. Celebrette Series: It forms shell pink flowers with a violet blotch. Thrives in full to partial shade.
11. Clockwork Series: Displays uniform habit and large flowers in almost every color.
12. Celebration Series: These are ideal for borders and containers and does well in both partial shade and full sun.
13. Devine Series: Has green to bronze foliage. Thrives in partial sun.
14. Harmony Series: Flowers early and consistently from spring until fall. It comes in four colors; Salmon, magenta, orange, purple.
15. SunStanding Series: Has a compact growing habit and does well in the sun or shade.
Some Beautiful New Guinea Cultivars
16. Nebulus: Is an eye-catching, beautiful variety with salmon-colored flowers and bright green leaves.
17. Celebration Light Lavender: It has green variegated foliage and lavender flowers.
18. Celebration Candy Pink: Showcases light pink bi-colored flowers with vibrant dark green foliage.
19. Sunglow: Features salmon-orange dual-colored flowers with dark green variegated foliage.
20. Tango: Produces large orange flowers that beautifully complement the dark green foliage.
21. Sunglow: Has dual-color, salmon-orange flowers with bright green variegated foliage.
Interspecific Impatiens
Botanical Name: Impatiens hawkeri ‘SunPatiens’
Size: 12-22 inches
Interspecific impatiens are a hybrid between new guinea impatiens and downy mildew resistant impatiens species. This variety prefers shade to full sun. The mildew-resistant variety includes:
22. Bounce Series: It is a fast-growing, low-maintenance variety with many color options that thrive in partial shade to full shade.
23. Big Bounce Series: Similar to bounce series with large ball-shaped flowers. Does well in partial sun.
24. SunPatiens Compact Series: Shows off dense, mounded plants that can grow in partial shade to full sun.
25. SunPatiens Spreading Series: Ideal for baskets. Thrives in partial shade to full sunlight.
26. SunPatiens Vigorous Series: It is mostly used in mass planting and landscape. The strong stems can withstand rain and wind.
Balsamina Impatiens
Botanical Name: Impatiens balsamina
Size: 8-16 inches
Also known as rose balsam or garden balsam, these are endemic to India and Southeast Asia. Balsamina impatiens are smaller than Impatiens walleriana. Many varieties form a cup-shaped flower.
27. Balsam Tom Thumb Dwarf: Has a uniform and compact growth. It produces colorful flowers.
28. Carambole Series: Produces flowers in four shades – creamy pink, lilac, scarlet, and white.
Jewelweed Impatiens
Botanical Name: Impatiens capensis
Size: 12-48 inches
Jewelweed is native to the woodlands of the Northern and eastern United States. The flowers are available in yellow or orange shades. This variety grows well under shaded location in moist soil.
29. Spotted Jewelweed: It exhibits orange flowers with curved spurs and red-brown spots; the elliptical-ovate leaves are dark green.
30. Pale Jewelweed: It offers droopy, pale yellow flowers with recurved spurs. The plant thrives in moist to wet soil.
Last year I hung 3 baskets of impatiens in the sun all year, watered 2ce a day, multiple colors, large flowers which bloomed till February of this yr when I let them freeze. In the fall the flowers began to get very small.
Last month I bought 3 more baskets of impatiens but the flowers are different. There is an extra stem sticking out from a single petal so flowers falling off are shaped like a fan. They also are not doing well in the sun. I don’t like this species.
Can you guess at what these 2 different species are called? And what is the hardy, large, single petals, no extra stem, multicolored purple, pink, magenta, white blooms species is?
Thanks
I had great success last summer with sunpatiens. They thrived in baskets as well as in the ground, in full sun and in partial sun.