Twelve proven flowering plants serve as excellent functional and aesthetic alternatives to impatiens—each offering comparable shade tolerance, consistent summer-long bloom, compact growth habit, and adaptability to moist (but well-drained) soils. These include New Guinea impatiens (a close relative), begonias (especially…
Yes, impatiens ( Impatiens walleriana, I. hawkeri, and I. capensis) are generally considered deer resistant—but this resistance is relative, not absolute. In low-to-moderate deer pressure areas, common garden impatiens are rarely browsed; in high-pressure zones—especially during drought, late winter, or…
Yes— impatiens are botanically classified as tender perennials, meaning they live for multiple years only where winter temperatures never drop below freezing. In USDA Hardiness Zones 10 and 11 (e.g., southern Florida, coastal Hawaii, extreme southern California), Impatiens walleriana and…
Yes—impatiens ( Impatiens walleriana, I. hawkeri, and most cultivated hybrids) are considered dear-resistant by the USDA, Rutgers University, and extension services across 42 U.S. states. In over two decades of observing thousands of residential landscapes—from suburban Connecticut to rural Oregon—I’ve…