i just found the impatients forum!

however, after searching quite a few pages, i still
didnt find any info that answers my ?

i'm fairly new here, and i guess i didn't realize just
how many forums there are!!

my goodness, it would seem there is a forum for just about
every kind of plant/situation

i did notice alot of folks were from zones much cooler
than my 8b, and were growing them in more sun

here in south/east texas, i'm guessing they would
need more shade than someone in, say, zone 5

tesa

I had a neighbor who had impatiens in his front yard, which got full afternoon sun. He had BEAUTIFUL impatiens, BUT he said that he would never do it again. He said that he was a slave to them...watering them twice a day...sometimes 3 times if the heat got up to the 100's.

I wouldn't recommend it...there are plenty of similar plants that you can now grow, that you wouldn't be able to in the shade.

the spot i'm considering planting them in is maby 4
hours of sun, maby 5, but at the trees leaf out, it
might be less, this is our first spring on the property
as we purchased it late last summer, so i'm not so sure
about this spot

the good thing is most of the things in my meditation
garden will be in pots, so i can move them if it gets
too sunny

i did put my turks cap in the ground, and i plan to put
some vines along the fence, but the rest will be in pots

so far, i've got a huge ivy i've had for 4 years, and a
lovley dwarf date palm in a pot

i'd like to recycle some of my old nursery pots for the
impatients and coleus i just purchased

tesa

I have a yard that is almost all shade in the back with some sun in the front. I am in NC and impatients will grow in both spots in my yard. I think that you should try some if you really want them and see how they do. I agree that they might not do well in full sun in these hotter climates but if you have some shade in the heat of the afternoon they might be fine.

thanks for everyones advise, i've been watching them
to make sure they aren't getting too much sun,but
like i said, as the trees leaf out, i think they will
be ok

but, to make double sure, i just put them in pots, i wasn't
going to put them in the ground anyway, as they won't last
thru a hard winter for me, and its fairly exposed site,
at the south corner of my property, but no windbreak from
the north wind that will whip thru there come january

tesa

I have a spot that was in speckled shade most of the day and impatients grew over knee high. I had a large oak die and this area got 4 hours of sun in my Z6a area and the impatients needing watering every day or they would wilt drastically. I would not try it in Texas unless you water them at least twice a day and don't expect good performance.

I'm in zone 9 in Southern California. In our climate I am able to grow impatiens with some sun. 4-5 hours sounds like an awful lot for impatiens but New Guinea impatiens can take more of it than the more common varieties.

I am very surprised to read the comment that someone felt like a slave to his. Can't understand why that would be so. I find them to be very undemanding.

You'd definitely be a slave to the sunny impatien side here in Texas. There would be definitive wilt each and every watering time.

However, the spot, your mediation garden, sounds perfect for them.