Thanks Spike, another wonderful forum to be enjoyed by all.

Hooray for Impatiens Forum. Garden friends, you will find that the world of impaitens is far more than those six-pack color spots your find at the quickmart. I now have ten species of temperate climate impatiens three to six feet tall ranging from white, cream yellow, orange speckled, to various shades of pink, and purple. Like dangling orchids with wonderful exploding seed pods that delight my children.

TOUCH-ME-NOT

There is a flower called Touch-me-not,
which means of course, touch me,
for it depends on touch for propagation,
as human's do. The blossom may be
two tones of orange, the darker exquisitely
freckling the lighter, or a clear lovely
yellow, an elegant aperture, inviting entry
by winged emissaries of imagination
actuated by love. The seed pods are made
of coil springs laid straight in the pod's
shape; ripe, the seeds are restrained in
suspension of tension. Touched they fly.

by Wendell Berry

Wow, 6 foot impatiens? Do they need staking? What is their name? Thanks!

Yayyyy! My favorite annual! I'm hoping to start some from seed this spring.

My favorite annual! Wonderful!

Wendel ..where did you find seeds for yellow touch me nots?..all I have ever seen are the pink ones...thanks for any info...Mary

I'll never forget the pale yellow impatiens,
which I had at the center of the small-round table.
It was years ago and its name , I think, was "Seashell".
Whenever I go to a nursery in late Spring, I ask if they have any yellow impatiens.The answer is always "no".
firevicar, do you know of it?

Boy this is great! The impatiens that Firevicar wrote about is more than likely Impatiens glandulifera and is an annual. The Seashells are slowly disappearing from the market. I hear from my contacts that another like it will be released next year but I cant remember the name at this time.

Mr.Impatiens--
That's great news!

Impatiens are my favorite annual but, Firevicar, the orange touch-me-not is one of my worst weeds. I live north of Boston and have lots of moist shade. My garden adjoins woodlands. I literally have thousands and thousands of these wretched things. I pull them from early spring til frost. They seem to grow inches every day. They are a native wildflower here. I can never get rid of them in my garden becasue the woods are full of them and they self-seed prolifically.

No doubt in another part of the country they are a nice ornamental. I often read of plants on the Forum that are a weed elsewhere, and I have to work hard to keep them alive. Oh well!

Ooooohhhh THANK YOU Spike!!!! this is awesome! Alicia :))))

Oh Spike, you are so wonderful! A forum and a gallery! What more could we ask? Big, big hugs!

I used to bury all my houseplants, in their pots, in a bed on the north side of my house (in hot dry Texas). I planted impatience between the pots. It made a gorgeous display all summer. You can collect the seeds or root new plants by putting cuttings in a bucket of water. Every day change the water, wash off the stems and shake off the loose leaves.

Dear Lorna,

As Derick mentioned, the 6-foot impatiens are I. glandulifera, aka Policeman's Helmet or Himalayan Impatiens. They seed liberally and can be a pest. But all of the native American "jewelweeds" grow to enormous proportions in garden conditions. This is a plant that can take moist shade as well.

As for "weed" status--I agree that species impatiens can self sow very liberally. All the annual impatens pull with the greatest of ease, having very shallow roots. And it's fascinating to watch a hummingbird work a thicket of wild jewelweeds. I've always loved this plant.

I love jewelweed it can be weedy but the hummers love it and it comes in yellow also it's supposed to be a cure for poison ivy!I love jewelweed! I think balsam impatiens is more of an invasive weed! Sarah

I just got a job watering impatents and am trying to find out the best way to care for them? help- thanks

You will more than likely have to water every day. Put them in a bright spot. Impatiens always sell really well so they move quickly.

Here are impatients glandulifera, they are not to invasive with me, they are just beautiful this time of year and nobody here has them not even in the wild, unless they have them from me :-) they smell good too. Also check out all the pics on google, most of them from germany, even this flower originsates in India.

If I cut impatents that are wilted from frost back to about 2-3 inches and cover with pine tags for the winter, will they come up again in the spring? I planted about 8 plants and ended up with a huge area of blooms that lasted all summer with no care ... no fertilizer just rain and a occasional hose sprinkle.

Thanks
Jane

You could try. It would be interesting to hear how they did. But my guess is they would die. They die here in my Zone 9 if not sheltered. But I have heard of people on the web who have seedlings pop up in the spring, so maybe that will happen for you.