Hardiness zones:
Sunset All zones
USDA All zones
Landscape Use: Fall, winter, and spring annual for shaded bedding plant areas in Phoenix. Great in mixed color containers or hanging baskets too.
Form & Character: Succulent herbaceous perennial treated as a cool season annual in Phoenix
Growth Habit: Erect and branching to 24", often much less
Foliage/texture: Broadly lanceolate leaves 1.5 to 6" long, the apex tapering to a point, deeply serrate to sometimes lobed, colors ranging from deep green through deep maroon, medium texture
Flowers & fruits: Flowers axillary, 1-2" across on a short pedicel, often overtopped by leafy shoots, fruit is a asymmetrical capsule, hairy
Seasonal color: Many flower colors mostly from white, pink, roes to lilac
Temperature: Not tolerant of frost or high summer heat
Light: Shade to partial eastern sun
Soil: Garden soil with copious organic matter preferred
Watering: Regular supplemental water required
Pruning: Pinch apical meristems will encourage a denser canopy. Clean all hands and tools before pinching or pruning.
Propagation: Softwood cuttings, seed propagation for Spectra F1 hybrids only. New Guinea impatiens are cropped in three ways by commercial growers: 1) order rooted cuttings to grow stock plants from which cuttings are taken for production, 3) order unrooted cuttings to root for production, or 3) order rooted cuttings which are then transplanted into the finishing container.
Disease and pests: Outdoors in the landscape, usually none because of its ephemeral use in the landscape as a summer color bedding plant. In greenhouses, New Guinea impatiens can suffer from tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV) carried in the leaf and stem tissues.
Additional comments: Great color plant for shaded areas. Readily available in local retail nurseries and home improvement centers. Most commercially available plants are double flowered with colorful foliage.
New Guinea impatiens history: The origin of New Guinea Impatiens started with a joint plant collecting expedition by Longwood Gardens and the USDA in 1970. Several plants were brought back from New Guinea and originally given separate species names. However, cytogenetic work later indicated that they actually belonged to one phenotypically variable species, Impatiens hawkeri. Crosses with additional Impatiens species form Java and the Celebes Islands resulted in the hybrid 'New Guinea' impatiens that are grown today. The first commercial series of New Guinea impatiens hybrids was released 1972 and was called the Circus series. Since 1972, numerous series comprised of hundreds of unique cultivars. Most of the New Guinea impatiens cultivars are patented meaning it is unlawful to harvest cuttings unless your a licensed propagator. Recent breeding have concentrated on shorter plants, shorter production times, heat and water stress tolerance, and variation in flower and foliage size and color.