wow! that was really interesting. i had no idea that they were so varied. hopefully some of those more unusual ones will someday make it to market. thanks, ralph! tam

Amazing. So much more interesting than the boring ones you see everywhere. -Ais.

Gorgeous. Like I needed another vice. I have zombensis, balsamina, omeiense, capensis. Need more - 12 steps, keep thinking 12 steps. Tried and failed with Impatiens namchabawensis seed - supposed to be one true blue of impatiens - drat. Strange_wonderful_things ebay store has unusual ones, but bids go up rapidly - we aren't the only ones lusting after these babies. PDN has arguta I think. Hey John, do you have any jungle gold cuttings?

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay impatiens

Yep. I think I chopped up the mama plant and made a bunch of cuttings because I can't find her anywhere (and she was huge!) And I have a strange one that a friend of a friend shared with me. The friend is a famous plant explorer who mostly goes all over the world collecting begonias. On a trip to the Himalayas she found this large flowering Impatiens and brought it back and shared it with my friend. My friend gave me a cutting which is now thriving in my cool hoopey house. She and I both think this is too wonderful of a plant to risk under our care alone so we plan on sharing it far and wide and we both plan on leaving some outside in the ground to check it for winter hardiness. It is unnamed because none of us has taken the time to key it out (I don't even have a key!) but I don't think it is super rare. I will have to wait til it blooms again but from what I remember it looks like some of the species featured on that website. Large orchid like pink/lavendar flowers.

The little I. zombiensis you brought to the swap is doing wonderful and bloomed the entire fall.

Yep - my yard is going to be nothing but Impatiens and Begonias!

John, please reserve a cutting of your exotic Impatiens for me. If it blooms again, you should be able to find it on Mr. Impatiens web site. If not, I suggest taking a picture and posting it on the Impatiens Forum. They have participants from around the world who regularly participate. As an additional thought, one of the things that prompted me to start this discussion was the discussion on the Impatiens Forum of an Impatiens whose flower looks like a parrot. If you did not see those pictures, you should look them up. The resembance is unbelievable.

ooh- that's theone i'd been thinking about ordering from an unsual plant company out west- can't recall the name off the top-the uncommon plant maybe? i'll have to look up the website later. they are big into jap maples, too. they actually called it the parrot impatiens or something of that sort. very cool. i noticed several that had that general shape & color combo in that guy's species pix (which take a long while to go through!), but i didn't scribble down names, so i don't know which they were now. the one the nursery had out west gets big thick stems to it- almost like jade or bonsai.

Going from memory the wild collected one I have looks a lot like Impatiens irvingii but that one has a pretty classic Impatiens look. The flowers were as large as a New Guinea Impatiens but the plant stays kinda low to the ground and the flowers kinda lay flat and look up at you as you walk by.

Isn't one of those multi colored jobs known as Congo Cockatoo?? little bright yellow, red and green flowers in clusters near the stem.

Annies Annuals has a broad selection (which I now see she gets from Mr Impatiens himself, as does Kartuz Nursery - both places I have shopped at in the past).

strange wonderful things is selling 7 seeds right now for 10.50 on ebay. the botanic is Impatiens niamniamensis.

i noticed when looking through those orig pix how many times annie's annuals name popped up. good to konw she sells them as well a photogs them. never ordered from her but she has a nice array of unusual stuff.

Well, aren't we the trend-setters? Opened my new issue of Horticulture, and lo and behold a full page photo of Impatiens namchabarwensis is featured in "Plants We Love" article. Unfortunately, I cannot find a source of seeds or plants. I think Strange_wonderful_things has it occasionally. It is listed as Zone 7, but I find this hard to believe. How cruel to picture a plant that is so un-obtainanble.

Brenda, have you tried posting a request for seed sources on the Impatiens Forum? Mr. Impatiens frequently responds to postings asking for help on that forum, and if there are seed available anywhere, he will likely know the source.

Well, brike down and spent $10 on nambacharwensis and niamniamensis from secretseeds. Hope they germinate. If all goes well, I might have rooted cuttings by swap time. Tat's how it went with the zombensis Derrick sent me last January.

Has anyone seen how large tinctoria is? Like the size of your palm, and SCENTED too. Wow, need that one and CANNOT find it anywhere.

wicked, wicked Brenda!

Do you see what you did?

Do you understand the consequences?

My complaints in the past about run of the mill shopping was that I was spending money I didn't have, to buy things I didn't need, to impress people I didn't like.

But you people are different. Heck, I even sat by Ralph at the arb lecture yesterday evening (this time I did not win a raffle plant, but Ralphs wife did!). Yep, I LIKE you guys, even Brenda. Even Brenda after she slips out an innocent little name of a website in England where you can find all sorts of unusuall seeds to purchase with the credit card you are desperately trying not to use..... seeds to plant that only fellow CarolinaGardenWebbers would understand me sowing and growing and fussing over. Things like the perennial snapdragon, the blue butterfly pea (not double!), my big weakness - violets and of course, Mecanopsis (!!!!) thats right, seeds for the same plant I smuggled back from Alaska in an empty cereal box. Plants that were living the high life all over Anchorage that for some reason I was convinced that I could encourage them to just hold on a few more months and 'it will cool down', you'll see, by September you think you were back on the tundra,, just ignore the heat and humidity for a few more weeks.... all for not. Did I learn my lesson? abso-freakin-lutely NOT!!!

So I will fight fire with fire: www.kartuz.com look at his impatiens page(s). Look at the big showy white one with the red speckles, then look at the pink version. And if your stomach or wallet can take it, slide on over to Annies-Annuals (don't worry, she sells everything, not just annuals) and check out her selections.

We are doomed. All of us together - doomed.

Maybe we could organize a group buy on some powerball tickets????

Stop it John. You are not at work so this post is particularly malicious. You can't make me go to that site. UGHHHH. Bad boy. Adele

About the seeds for Impatiens nambypambywamby - do you realize that this very morning over in Great Britain there are two businessmen scratching their heads wondering what the heck is going on in North Carolina. Why all the sudden demand for these little blue flower seeds? Have they all gone mad???

Waut de bloody 'ell?? They're juz lit'l blew fluers fer christ sake!

you all are EVIL!!! as if any of us need to be enabling each other. better let no spouses see this thread or we're all dead. and i haven't started ordering for spring yet... mwa-ha-ha!

Funny that you mention the perennial snapdragon,John, could you mean Rehmannia - the plant I secretly bought 100 seeds for 2 Euros? I was admitting to the nambypambywamby, because I'm still hiding these darker secrets - like a bulimic hiding the donuts by scarfing down the German chocolate cake. Of course I'm wicked - doubtless so - but John, I thought you liked me most of all. heheheheheheh It is true that when I find a coquettishly padded envelope in my mailbox, I find myself wringing my hands and muttering "my preciousssssssss". Have to go to UK for work in late February, and I'm already trying to think of some way to score seeds while I'm there. Do they have plant-sniffing dogs in customs?

but mostly for the story she once told us in Logan's cafe about her teenage son - it had nothing to do with plants but was possibly the funniest thing I have ever heard.

The airport hounds must be napping because my friend just returned from Germany with a few packets of seed for my birthday (I used to ask for foreign music cd's, but nowadays I only want seeds). I got some mixed gourds (some should be the ones with pokey spines all over them), some black black black hollyhocks, something that looks like a winter squash, some Charentais melons, and the best of all - a basil grown for its showy pink flowers, way cool. This friend was in Africa the month before but couldn't find a garden center in Niarobi (cool tunes though).

Nope the perennial snap I've ordered is a species Antirhinum that blooms a pale creamy yellow. Supposedly disappears some summers to return in the fall and grows throughout the winter. Looks like a regular rocket style snapdragon though the leaves are somewhat silver-er. I bought a bunch of the Rhem-whatever false snapdragons at BB's last month. I'm hoping they self sow throughout the yard. I do wish someone would breed different colors of them though.

Tammy - before you order see if I have anything you need and for god's sake don't sow any parsley, I am overrun.

rhemannia will spread via runners when it's happy. it'll seed, too, but it spreads well- but i wouldn't say invasively. it was super happy where i had it for about 5-6 yrs then died out one summer. i got 1 plant this past summer to replace it finally and dang if it isn't going hogwild again. yippie! il ove the longevityof the blooms. i wish they'd breed a deeper raspberry or purple or white of it instead of the sometimes dusty pink, though.

duly noted about the parsley, john. i have one self perpetuating patch, but always sow a little aound for my swallowtails. are yours small plants or in the ground already? and i'll ck with you before i order.

so, brenda, sounds like you need to tell this hysterical story on the convesations side... the stories i've heard about them are side stichers. you should freelance as a comedian! :)

Tammy - B's story is way too naughty for the web! she'll have to do a public reading during one of the swaps.

I sowed (with abandon) about four different types of parsley and all of them are up. They are in the hoopey so they aren't growing too fast with the cool temps but they are up. I imagine I will be tucking in plants everywhere. It don't matter, I like the swallowtail larvae and I like tabouli.

If you really want to attract swallowtail butterflies, you need at least one bronze fennel plant. I have been potting up some that came up in the fall. I would like to trade for some of your parsley since my parsley is nearly a year old and will likely go to seed as soon as the weather warms. Bronze fennel will bloom all summer and will attract more different kinds of bees and wasps than you have likely ever seen. I have a two year old plant that produced close to a pound of seed last summer and was home to close to a dozen swallowtail caterpillars in the fall.

Ralph - I sowed some of YOUR bronze fennel seed this year (I think it came in the 2005 seed swap box) and they are up and attem' in the hoopey so I should have enough for the caterpillars but if you have plenty and no one else wants them I will always take one for the fairgrounds. I know I have Italian flat leaved, Gigantic flat leaved (which tastes a bit different) and Curly this year.

Did you know that in SE Asia they eat the unripe seed pods off fennel like candy? They taste like root beer and after you've chewed them up it makes everything taste sweetish.

Why do they call it "butterfly" gardening when in fact it is "caterpillar" gardening?????

oooh- ooh- can i get some bronze fennel babes? i second ralph's experince, but for some reason have had trouble getting it going again once i lost my grandaddy palnt. i love the way it looks regardless. that's pretty cool about the seeds- i had no idea! that what happens to me when i eat fresh artichoke- everything tastes sweet for a hr or so. 'course, i'd be afraid to at apillar egg or baby pillar doing that- they seem to like those seedy areas to hide.

i much prefer the flat leaf parsley to the curled junk (though it is pretty). the giant italian is even better- which is what it sounds like you have. i tried growing parsley root one yr, but it was really funky. i usually have regular flat leaf & the italian- prezzola something.

i guess they say butterfly gardening because it sounds nicer. too many people still think of 'pillars as 'worms'.

Please can I have some parsley babies as well? I found myself buying it at Whole Foods (ouch) last November to make chicken/andouille sausage gumbo- it takes a full 2 cups chopped parsley for a great big crockpot. Don't want to do that again. I have bronze fennel (seeds and babies to share as well if needed. John, you're too too funny with your images - UK guys scatchin' their heads over sudden nambypamby market in Carolina.

Brenda - have you heard any sort of confirmation that your order was received? I haven't and it worries me - moreso than the head scratchin. Of course I'm funny - today's my birthday!! one more year of silliness and then I have to grow up and get serious coz then I'll be 50 (gasp).

Happy Birthday John! I won't be contributing to nambypamby confusion cuz I got no shade. But I would love some parlsey and fennel babies from whomever come swap time.

Happy Birthday John. The world is a much happier and sillier place with you in it for sure. They broke the mold with you, though I have a feeling if I met your dad there might just be a strong resemblence. You're just a baby by the way, I got you beat by one. (double gasp). Adele

Happy Birthday, Oh-Funny-One-Who-Made-My-Day-By-Being-A-Whole-Year-Older-Than-Me. And by the way, no one can force us to grow up emotionally or mentally. 50 is the new 29, don't you know? I have no order acknowledgement either, but I'm not nervous - yet.

Thanks ya'll! I've always said that I will act like a teenager as long as I have acne! (usually while eating a chocolate candybar).

Ok, since we are no longer talking about impatiens I am gonna start a parsley thread - out of respect for Ralph. See I am getting more mature and its only the first day of my 49th year.

Happy Birthday John, You are excused for spelling my home country city wrong since it's your birthday , It's spelled Nairobi. I am amazed how far gardeners search for seeds. This is very intersting.

My Namchabarwensis seeds arrived yesterday!!! The seed place sold out of them after my order. Now I feel like I have contraband in my refrigerator and I'm suspicious of anyone walking near my front door...

Gotta git over to the Impatiens forum to find out the proven methods on rare impatiens seed sowing.

These are absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing the info and pics.

My seeds came too, John, namby and Congo Cockatoo. Derrick told me last year to plant and chill namby for a while. The ones he sent me last year still didn't germinate, but I'm tryin' agin'. Going to start Congo Cockatoo with a heat mat inside I think. Little dissected viola you gave me is doing well - evergreen so far.

I got two packets so I don't know whether to try two different techniques or break them into groups and try multiple techniques or save some for later????? So much of what I have already sown is up and growing so I am completely out of room. They say the weather will warm up after this next weekend which will free up a lot of space. I had to move everything into the hoophouse because it has been so cold at night - even completely hardy things don't enjoy these temps.