Bye Bye Busy Lizzies! What to Plant Instead of Impatiens?

Still bad news for impatiens in 2017

Impatiens blight 2013.  Impatiens disease.  Impatiens fungus.  This spring,    impatiens will be be rarer than a five legged frog. Bye bye Busy Lizzies (as impatiens are nicknamed in Great Britain.)  Most stores won't carry them this year.  These easy, breezy, colorful mainstays of the shade garden are on hiatus.  Word has it there'll be few hothouse impatiens offered for at least three years.  Truth is, no one really knows how long impatiens will be off the market.

It was great while it lasted.  Impatiens filled even the shadiest garden from stem to stern with hot pinks, corals, salmon, fuschia and lovely lipstick red.  No plucking nor cutting back, just simply add water.  By August the blooms would merge, creating mounds of deep color, highly visible from anywhere in the yard. Downy mildew or impatient blight changed that. 

Yet, as in life, adaptation is the key to good gardening. 

For deep shade, there truly are no replacements as colorful as impatiens, so it may be time for an interim detour to mainstay perennials like hosta, perhaps layered with spring bulbs. 

Prefer annuals?   Consider these:

White Sunpatiens

1.  Sunpatiens/New Guinea Impatiens:  They bloom better with a bit of sun, but are disease resistant.  Just don't forget to water as they wilt easily in hot temperatures.

2.  Minmulus/Monkey Flower:  With small blooms that resemble a monkey's face, these shade plants can't be found at a big box store, so stick with the local greenhouse.  Block's Market Stand usually carries them, but their homegrown crop is limited.  Monkey flowers will not pack the colorful punch of impatiens, but they'll provide delicate hues.

3.  Coleus:  Eh, unsure.  The gardener looking for the same pop of primary color might not be amenable to the jewel toned rusts, browns, golds and greens of coleus.  Plus, there must be much pinching back to maintain the mounding nature of a true border plant. 

4.  Begonia:  A second cousin of impatiens, begonia colors are more limited. The smaller blooms and
cooler hues create a different effect, but the foliage is more interesting.  My mother loved her red begonias.  Not nearly as pest resistant as impatiens, yet these old girls may have the last laugh!










Sunpatiens and Alyssum as border plants

4.  Alyssum.  This is where I'm placing my bets. Alyssum does well in part shade, mounds nicely as a border plant, and requires little maintenance.  Best of all, sweet alyssum is fragrant, and left alone, reseeds for years.  Purple alyssum reverts to the orginal prehybrid white in the second year. Layered with Sunpatiens, as shown above, the contrast of the fuzzy soft blooms against sharper leaves and bold colors is well balanced. 

Uncovering a scarce flat of impatiens, does one dare take the chance?  Be judicious.  Don't fill the yard with these risky blooms, but perhaps gamble with a flat of locally grown.  Plant in a part shade location that did not host impatiens last year.  Don't oversaturate, and irrigate in the morning to allow drying time.  Avoid crowding and allow air circulation.  Then, cross your fingers. 

Possibly a benefit of the long cold winter may be the death of last year's downy mildew spores.  Time will tell.

Enjoy and experiment with the alternatives.  Ever changing borders are a gardener's happy challenge. 

More Articles of Interest:

Layered Planting -- Should I Cut Back Faded Bulbs?

Impatiens Disease -- Trouble in the Landscape

When Should I Plant Annuals in Michigan?

The Garden Potting Bench

 

How to build the best potting bench?  The most important element is height.  When six and a half foot Kenny built my garden bench--the counter top landed at armpit level.  Not easy when hoisting heavy pots.  Nothing a good saw and a couple patio blocks couldn't fix.

Wear gardening shoes when measuring up.  The bench should hit four to six inches below the waist to accomodate added container height.  Imagine placing an empty pot on a tabletop.  That's the level at which your arms will be working.  Lower benches are easier on shoulders and backs. 

Precut benches are available at the touch of a keyboard, but can be fragile and the lumber often lasts only a few seasons.  They're "one size fits all gardeners."  Reinforcing premades with extra braces and coating with exterior stain or polyurethane extends the life of the bench. 

Ten winters!

Wolmanized lumber is the optimal material for do it yourselfers.  After a winter season the wood fades to the color of warm rye toast. 

For the countertop, leave half inch gaps so soil does not accumulate in the breaks.  Add a shelf below for storage of flats pending their relocation to pots and beds.

At the side, include a storage bucket for long handled forks and spades.  Drill holes for drainage. 

When friends visit, brush off the top and break out the ice bucket.  Voila, an outdoor bar!

Just don't get potted.

More Articles of Interest:

Container Gardens -- Pots on the Spot

Four O'Clocks and Hollyhocks

Gardeners of the Court -- The Cycle of Life in the Garden

The Garden Potting Shed

Okay, it's a girl cave.  Rakes rather than recliners.  No big screen television, but a recycled CD player shaped like a VW Beetle provides musical ambience.  How about a mini fridge and a ceiling fan?  It can get hot out there!

The beauty of a potting shed, particularly in a green world--is that what's out is in.  The proper Feng Shui involves a bit of forbidden tchotchke.  A table salvaged from the curbside, and heavy iron tools unearthed at an estate sale are prized posesssions, happily displayed. 

A potting shed need not be elaborate, in fact, the tree house can be converted after the youngest leaves for college. 


Top priorities for potting shed construction?

1.  Wall tool storage.  Wall mounted wooden dowel pegs extending eight inches and spaced apart in varying distances are highly efficient.  Modern metal premade wall hangers are also available.

2.  Counter space.  There's never enough.  Tender flats can be temporarily located on this space to avoid the frost.  Gardeners always have full hands and clear open counter space is premium.  Wooden countertops are inexpensive and easily brushed clean of stray soil. 

3.  Open shelving:  Open shelves allow for easy access to tools, pots, and garden food.  Equipment tucked cupboard doors are often forgotten.  Shelves can be located anywhere, above doors, windows, below counters.

4.  The wish list: 

• Easy access to a water source to avoid lugging.  Most projects require H2O.   
• If water access is impractical, install gutters and attach to a rain barrel.
• Windowboxes -- of course!
• A garden cart and room to store it.  Mine fit under a work table.
• Exterior cupboards for off season container storage.  Install latches to keep out critters.
• Compost bin nearby.
• Skylights for natural illumination.

Maybe it's merely converting a corner of the garage, or adding a potting bench under the eaves.

Perhaps the pergola was a bit over the top, but it certainly was lovely!

Sumptuos or simple, every gardener needs some space--every girl needs a cave.

More Articles of Interest:

 

Landscape Art or Garden Tchotchke?

 

Gnomes Get Kids Gardening

 

Windowboxes -- No Pane, No Gain!