PlantFiles: New Guinea Impatiens
Impatiens x hawkeri

I rooted a cutting from a neighbor and it did well in a location that was too sunny (full sun until about 3 PM). It sometimes wilted but still blooming well until I mulched it to try to prevent the wilting. It promptly rotted and died. The neighbor from whom I took the cutting just completely ignored her plant. It was planted on a western exposure against the side of her house. It only got about 3 hours of full sun. When I first saw it, it was 3 feet tall and covered in blooms. It was love at first sight for me. I have not tried again yet but I will.

Grows and blooms quite vigorously-in hanging pots.Wanted to add more color to flower garden. Purchased in late spring. Planted together with Fiesta Ole Purple Stripe Double Impatiens. Achieved a great effect with almost continuous blooms. Gets morning and evening sun. Water every other day. Miracle Grow every 3 weeks.

Beautiful for sure, but they are sooooo fragile and water hungry.

I was led to believe these would take "more sun" than run-of-the-mill impatiens. Bull. They wilt mid-afternoon and down right look half dead if they go two days without being watered. Of the three I planted, one is dead already because I didn't get to them fast enough in between rain showers.

On the other hand, my cheap $1.50 per flat impatiens are flourishing with very little supplemental water between our once a week rain showers and they are in the sun for an hour more a day! Pffft.

They are perennials in my zone 9b/10a garden and they bloom year round if planted out of the sun and in a protected location. I have orange crush growing in an L shaped section of my yard under the year round shade of an australian tree fern, a young kentia palm and a queen palm.The cold doesnt see to bother them, but frost will do them in. We've had a week with temps in the low 30s recently and the impatiens were unfazed.

I have had good luck with these in zone 8 in everything from full shade to part sun. They really don't like mid-day/afternoon sun and even with morning sun, need lots of water. Mine have bloomed well into fall, tho by Oct., they're a little "leggy".

This is the first year trying New Guinea Impatiens. Used the Hanging bag method for the Celebration Red variety. This variety is very tolerant to amount of sunlight within reason. Full sun should be avoided. Watering daily is essential and the plants will immediatly let you know when the water supply in dwindling by them starting to sag. During the summer months two Hanging bags provided the centerpiece at our front door and always drew attention, even from the tropical Hibiscuses. Not wanting to loose these two masterpieces over winter I decided to attempt bringing them indoors before frost. They remained in my garage healthy for 1 month before moving indoors in November. Indoors during the heating season they are requiring watering every three days and are producing flowers today 12-17-05. Such a pretty sight in the dead of winter! Oh by the way the Tropical Hibiscus is also blooming today which is an added bonus before Christmas.

Dave

My specimens are SO gorgeous I just hate to think of losing them to the cold, so I will try overwintering them.

Silksapphire, Indiana

This is my first experience with a new guinea impatien...I've found that it wilts easily, so I need to water it more often than my other plants...I'm experimenting with the light (shade to partial shade). I'm hoping I become successful with this plant before it gives up on me...

I grew this plant last year in a semi-shady location. Even whn I didn't water it on time and appeared to wilt it always came back.

I tried growing them here in probably too much sun, they are so pretty I will will try them again in more shade.

It amazes me to read that some people recommend to not overwater, or to not water from the top........we have our planted in the ground. We get more rainfall in a month than most people get in a year. when we have a few days with no rain, the plants will start looking slightly wilted and we water them ourselves.....without worrying about wetting from the top. They do fine.

We bought two New Guinea plants originally and have broken stems and planted those directly into the ground with no root booster and they have done splendid.

...........And regular impatiens grow like weeds here, with no help from us, except to break off stems and plant around for color.

This is my first year for this beautiful plant. But if cats and dogs can play and smash it over and over and it continues to bloom, it's the perfect plant for me.

Most people have no luck with these, however i am a first timer of this beautiful choice and have had nothing but luck! in a trial and error the 1st week i had them, i now realize they LOVE water and shade this has kept them in full fantabulous bloom!

I have had very good results with this plant; was given to me on Mother's Day in full bloom and it stayed full of blooms until frost.

I put it in a sunny window for the winter, and it survived but never was as vigorous as before; is a beautiful plant nevertheless. Well worth all the "TLC" one can afford.

San Antonio, Tx.
After several years of trying these out, I quit planting them. I have better luck with regular impatiens. For some reason, they never bloomed very well. I tried different areas in my yard receiving different smounts of sunlight and having different types of soil with the same results. I bought hanging baskets that did not bloom much either. I used various fertilizers also. Perhaps I will try again and use the fish emulsion fertilizer.

I would like to happily report that I have had success with it here in Newfoundland, Canada.

However, I must report that this plant must not be planted outside until well after the risk of frost has passed (the end of June).

It also needs plenty of sunshine and must not be overwatered.

Here's an update for September 25th - it is now the beginnings of late fall here in Newfoundland (nightime temp around 6 C), and all of a sudden, this thing seems to have taken on a life of its own! It is covered in flowers, and even seems to be growing, if you can believe that!

My experience with these is that they fare the sun much better than the common impatiens. I have several planters on my upstairs deck where they get little shade & they've done beautifully. The stems are tender like the common impatiens & so require extra attention to moisture content in the soil than most of my other plants. They wilt quickly in the Florida heat if the soil gets dry but are still one of my favorite plants.

These have done very well here in Austin - especially in the warm weather with partial shade. They bloom prolifically, especially when fertilized with fish emulsion. They also root amazingly well and quickly. But, consistent with other reports, I have had others who bought the same plants from the same grower and had very poor results - primary difference, she planted them in a container, I have mine in the ground.

I lost 3 of 6 plants and never figured out why. They are kind of expensive to be so iffy.

I got several small plants, planted them in our front garden. They are doing fine, even tho the soil isn't truly acidic. And the flowers are gorgeous. The only problem I have had is with little bugs that eat the flowers.

I recently got one of the light orchid this year and have brought indoors in a pot to see how it does. So far it looks little wilted, but are trying to figure out what it needs.

Gorgeous, but they detest being sprinkled with water so soak the ground, not the plant. In No.Cal. they are perennials if you're really lucky but are sensitive to cold.

This is my first experience with the 'Harmony' New Guinea impatiens, and it has outperformed any other variety I've tried. The light orchid is more like pink. I'll try other colors next year. I have it on a north-facing balcony against the wall, so it gets little sun.

followed specific directions on care tag and the basket will not flower. Called florists re this issue with no results.

I've had mixed results with New Guinea impatiens - I've successfully raised them from seed, bought small and large pots. I usually put them in a filtered shade spot, and some years they do great; others not so great. But they're pretty, so I keep trying :)