Those are not seedlings coming up but stems from the tuber. It will die to the ground each year. This is hardy Impatiens and can take cold down to a USDA Zone 6. All of my hardy Impatiens are coming up now. Oh and it has been confirmed that this is truely Impatiens omeiana. It is now called Impatiens omeiana 'Ice Storm'.

Thank you for your response, Mr. Impatiens! After posting, I realized that there were not many activities in this forum recently and was wondering if you no longer came to this forum. Glad to know you still come here.

I am amazed how much and fast the tuber spread. Those leaves (I thought as seedlings) are probably 3-4 inches away from where the original plant stem was. I got it from AnnieÂs Annuals in October 2006 so it has been only 4 months. Wow. I always appreciate your educating information for it is not easily available. I noticed AnnieÂs web site updated the name but I was not sure if they gave it a nickname or official name change as you explained. I will update my plant list accordingly. If you ever publish a book about Impatiens, I will be the first one to order it.

Mr. Impatiens, I have one more question. Since you mentioned about hardy impatiens, I have three more plants I thought was killed by frost but hopefully I am wrong. Are the following plants dead or will they come back?

I. fischeri

I. mengtziana

I. auricoma 'Jungle Gold'

I got all of them from Annie's and I believe they are from your collection. How lucky I am to live a bridge away from Annie's! I never liked impatiens sold at large garden centers but I love your Impatiens collection. My husband loves it too and bees love I. arguta. They diligently go in and out of each flower covering them with pollen as a result they look like ghost bees. As you gave me an advise last year, I. arguta came right back from frost damage. (I think this is from your collection as well for I bought it from SF Botanical Garden plant sale.)

I check the site almost every day. I like to wait sometimes to let others respond. This winter was very cold and normally fischeri would make it in your zone. But if there is nothing left of it, it is more than likely gone. For me this plant will survive my winters (9b) under a overhang but if hit by frost it will die. As for mengtziana it should still be alive, mine died to the ground in its pot and is showing new growth all ready. As for your auricoma its dead it is a very tender species and this one was released by Burpee a few years ago, not my introduction. Impatiens arguta is also my introduction and one of my favorites. It seems to be catching on. Another that may show some hardiness is usambarensis it looks much like the bedding plant but is much larger and appears to be hardy so far. It froze to the base and is still firm and strong just waiting for sprout to come up. I will be doing a talk at the Cal Hort Society on 4-16 at the Strybing.

Mr. Impatiens, thank you again for your response. I checked mengtziana this morning and I see new growth as well. I am so glad that I asked because we were going to dig them up to make room for new plants. I see mushrooms growing around fischeri's dead stem. I guess it is really dead... I checked your lecture schedule in Strybing website. I appreciate your having lecture from 7-9 PM so I can attend after my work. I will call Strybing to see if seats are still available.