Gardens and terraces decorated with Impatiens: when and how to plant and propagate them
With its small delicate flowers, bright colors (ranging from red to pink to white to blue), and its bright green leaves, impatiens (aka Touch-Me-Nots) are the perfect plant to decorate your garden or terrace. Not growing abundantly, impatiens are more of a "filler" flower, but enchanting nonetheless.
Let's find out how to cultivate impatiens:
When and where to plant impatiens
Impatiens are a delicate tropical plant that prefers humid climates and cannot tolerate the cold. This is why impatiens should only be planted once the cold sessions has passed. Lovers of partial shade, impatiens should not be exposed to direct sunlight. This is especially true when the sun is particularly stroing. An ideal spot for them could be underneath trees or other taller plants, which can protect them from burning under the sun.
The spot chosen for your impatiens should also be shielded from the wind, which could damage them.
Soil and positioning
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To make ensure your impatiens bloom, the distance between them is also important. Remember not to place them too close or too far from each other. Positioning depends a lot on what type of growth you want to encourage. Considering that they are low-level plants that almost never exceed 50cm in height, you can encourage them to grow higher by placing them about 15cm apart; to encourage a more "shrub-like" growth, plant them at about 30cm apart.
Soil: the soil must be well draining, and rich in humus. Impatiens are very vulnerable to fungus and root rot, so ensure not to overdo your watering. Enrich the soil you will plant your impatiens in with a good compost.
If planting impatiens in pots, these pots must be big enough and well-draining.
Care for impatiens
Sarbast.T.Hameed/Wikimedia commons - CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED
To ensure your impatiens thrive, always make sure that their soil is moist, the soil never dries out and that they are not exposed to direct sunlight. To this end:
- Water them regularly;
- Provide fertilizer every two weeks;
- Protect them from parasites by planting aromatic plants near to them;
- Cover the seedlings with protective sheets during the winter to prevent the roots from freezing (or move them indoors).
These are the standard precautions to take for almost all impatiens. There is another type of impatien, however, known as the New Guinea Impatien, which is much more resistant to heat. The variety can be planted in sunny spots, is not vulnerable to fungi, can grow up to one meter in height and has larger flowers.
Finally...
No matter what species of impatien you choose, they are easy to cultivate, do not need excessive care and can live for a very long time.
Will you get some impatiens to plant in spring?
