"Wild" Impatiens

I have to reiterate my Love of Impatiens!  I can't get enough of them.  They are absolutely my favorite flower due to their care-free style; meaning I have to do very little "caring" to keep them looking great.  They "maintain" themselves (for the most part), shedding spent blooms and replacing them with equally brilliant ones.

Pretty In Pink

This annual loves the climate and soil of my property so much that it has become a perennial for me in Pennsylvania - Zone 6a (Use this zone finder to find yours.) Yes, I have "wild" impatiens popping up all over the place.  Imagine if I could get them to overtake my entire yard.  Now that would be an incredible carpet of color?!  I think somebody needs to work on a hybrid Impatiens groundcover.

Spilling from the center of an old tree trunk.

The nights have gotten somewhat cooler recently and those cooling temps really do the impatiens well.  They look so vivid and perky in the mornings this time of year.  I can expect this color to continue right through fall until the first, hard frost - practically two full seasons of color!

Popping up from some gravel along my front walkway.
A welcomed  "guest" as opposed to the pesky weeds.

If you've never planted Impatiens before, you must give them a try.  Just be sure you have a nice, shady location for them. Perhaps you too will find that you have "wild" Impatiens the following year.

A flower head catching some morning sun rays.  Leaves still wet with dew.

A bounty of color growing from an old tree stump.
Welcomed color in a predominately green "zone".

Simple Beauty

 

Showy Fushia

A fushia full of bright blooms was near my entryway for the past couple of weeks.  I have it placed in an inverted birdbath so it "spills" over the sides.  Quite a neat effect.  For more info on repurposed birdbaths, visit this page.

For some reason, my planter fushia always seem to lose their blooms and get "straggly" looking.  It is rather odd as it is in the perfect, shady location and they supposedly love shade.  They are also rather messy, dropping dead flowers and leaves everywhere.  I have since moved it to my wishing-well planter, also shaded but in a bed where dropped blooms won't create such a mess.  I replaced the fushia with a planter full of Creeping Jenny and Impatiens (my favorite, no-fuss, annuals.)  I'll share some of my Impatiens images soon.  For now, the bright green of the Creeping Jenny sure looks vibrant in an otherwise dull, shaded corner.  Hopefully it does o.k. there as they prefer sun.  It's a game of hit or miss.