You can dig the entire plant up and bring it indoors. Under lights it will still bloom. You can also take cuttings and root them, and have more plants. You will find that both your cuttings and your plants will become "leggy" over the winter. You can still make cuttings from these "leggy" shoots. I make the "leggy" comment because I am assuming that you will be using artificial light ( possibly florescent lamps) in your basement. That is what I use, so I speak from experience.

However, you should be forewarned that if you bring the impatiens inside, you should also be prepared to deal with pests in the form of aphids, spider mites, mealy bug etc. You will have to be VERY vigilant for these, and be prepared to use insecticides or more organic treatments on a regular basis all winter long.

You will also need to be aware of good ventilation and drainage, so that your basement does not develop mold which comes in naturally with the soil.

I have one variegated impatiens that I overwinter as it is not available in the stores, but most are readily available in the market place so I purchase them in the spring.

Good luck with your experiment.

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Jroot - do you just keep 'trimming' back the plants during the winter to allow for 'less legs' and more branching? I'm attempting to save some hard to find coloured impatiens which will be brought in from the outdoors up in a bright southern exposure but temperature regulated attic window sil.

I'm not interested in blooms so much indoors as I am in saving these plants to put out next summer.

Jroot
Wow,what a nice setup you have there.I just have open shelves with the light fixtures hanging over top,which I can adjust the height.Mine does the trick,but I can see yours is a place where you would want to spend some time.Very nice.

A very nice setup indeed. Mine is very basic too, but often I run out of room and ending up using every window in the house, even if it gets bright light instead of any sun.

For impatiens you can dig out the plants and bring them in, or take cuttings. I prefer cuttings because there is less chance of bringing in bugs with them. Plus, they are one of the few plants that root very easily in a glass of water.

I take cuttings, go for healthy looking foliage. I usually remove some of the bottom leaves from the cutting because when you place it in the glass of water, any leaves below the water surface just rot.

I then wash the cuttings in soapy room temperature water. Just a bit of dish detergent in the water. You can gently rub the leaves between your fingers, to try to remove any bugs that might be there, and then rinse the cuttings in clean water.

Stick in a small glass of water with the bottom of the cutting stem in the water, and the top leaves sticking up out of the water and resting over the rim of the glass.

Sometimes they do droop for a day or two but then pick up. Change the water every few days if you find it getting ÂyuckyÂ. Once they have roots you can pot them up. Sometimes I re-wash them in soapy water and rinse before I pot them up (be careful not to break off the roots).

The plants will grow a bit now, stop during winter, and resume growth in spring. In spring you can make more cuttings from the new growth, pot them up in small pots or drinking cups for planting outdoors.

Yes, sydseeds. I do indeed keep cutting back, and making more cuttings. That's how we get more to trade, right? LOL
What rare colour are you trying to preserve, Syd?

Glen3a has excellent information about cuttings. That's exactly what I try to do. This year I promise to be more vigilant about the washing. It is worth the effort.

Jroot & Glen3a - thanks for all the helpful advice on overwintering.

Jroot - if the wife uses OPI nail polish, have her try out 'don't socratease me' shade on those nails - the colour in the bottle doesn't match but once on the nails - it's the exact colour of the impatients I'm trying to save - a florescent, almost 'glow in the dark' fuschia-pink-orange mix that I've never seen before - I happened upon a flat of this colour and grabbed the whole flat - the only annual plant I just had to buy in the last 3 years of no-annual plant buying - I'll jump thru hoops to keep this colour in existance in my garden so off I go on spending wads of money to keep these alive & rooting more thru the winter & spring.

Cheers!