Hello Folks, I was hoping someone here could tell me what type of plant this is with specifics? Any help is appreciated. -Amateur here in Philly ( photo / image / picture from philadelphia1's Garden ) Moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Wow! What a great bunch of folks on this forum. Very nice,helpful and friendly. Thanks for all the responses. I agree. I too think they are variegated Impatiens. Are they annuals or perennials? I guess it would depend on species of plant? I think my wife bought them from Home Depot like my friends mentioned in previous posts. (awesome by the way...she forgot where we got them from) Thanks for all the comments. Any help if they are annuals or perennials is appreciated! -Philly Pa
Hi Philadelphia, They are annuals. If you want to winter them over, you can try taking cuttings. The older varieties of impatiens used to root easily. I do not know if that is true of the new ones....but then, what do yu have to lose? Glad you like this gardening site.
I have brought the whole pot into the greenhouse and kept it alive for this whole Summer. I actually never took it out of the greenhouse so it will be growing in there for over 2 years until next Spring. It's doing fine. Don't know if they all will grow like that. I have taken many annuals in for the Winter and they live past the normal time for them to die. My advise is to take clippings, like Cayuga Morning suggests, and bring the plant in for the Winter, too. What do you have to loose????
What a gorgeous plant! I've never seen a variegated one before. Good luck with keeping it alive for another year.
Your plant looks like: Variegated Spreading Salmon SunPatiens New Guinea Impatiens 820239 Impatiens x hybrida hort 'Spreading Salmon SunPatiens' A lot of info in that. A shorter version would be that you have a SunPatiens, 'Spreading Salmon' cultivar. It's a New Guinea type. This kind of Impatiens is a tender perennial, so can't survive perennially where winter is too cold, and grown "as an annual." A true annual can't be kept alive indefinitely in any location or climate, perishing after completing the seed making process, and/or when the season changes. If it's as easy to keep these going over winter inside as the old standby Impatiens (I. walleriana,) you should still have it next spring. I have some I. walleriana in its' 3rd summer. Recently acquired a non-variegated NG Impatiens to try keeping here at my house. I've already taken cuttings and put them in various pots with other plants that I think need a punch of color (and enjoy the same light and moisture conditions.) One thing about bringing plants inside for winter is that they usually need much more sun than would seem appropriate even for deep shade plants. The rays are very weak, and last for many fewer hours each day. Close proximity to an E, W, or S window should yield good results. Another tender perennial that does fantastically inside is your ordinary wax Begonia. If they're happy, they'll keep blooming all winter inside. That's a little messy, the dropped finished flowers, but I don't mind, any flowers during winter are a welcome bonus to me.
Hi Philidelphia1! Welcome to the Stew! That is a beautiful plant! With a beauty like that, I would definitely take cuttings and try rooting. It has been close to 30 years since I've kept impatiens, but when I had them potted and indoors, they would re-bloom every year. I had them for a few years, but when I wasn't looking, some kind-hearted person with a black thumb tried to "prune them" for me... Unfortunate.
Purple--Yes, you must be right! Annuals, by definition die after setting seed. It is possible to keep an impatiens going indoors, given enough light & humidity. A tender perennial, yes, that makes sense.
When I lived in OH, and first realized some 'annuals' are only sold as that because winter is too cold for them in the store location, I got very involved in investigating which were not true annuals. All of the ones that are not true annuals can theoretically be saved over winter, though YMMV a lot, depending on a lot of variables, for each particular plant. Very cool stuff when you like or need to pinch pennies... and/or just miss those plants too much over winter.
That is a beautiful plant...welcome to the group philadelphia. You can learn so much information here on Garden stew and I agree, everyone is so nice.
Welcome to Garden Stew. I am a new member and I'm really enjoying the people. That is a beautiful plant and I'll have to look for it next year. I've kept my old fashioned begonias going for 2 years now. I hope it works for that one. It's gorgeous!
