Choose from enough Impatiens to plant a row from Spencer to Framingham!

They’ll think you Hired a Landscaper! (Success with Impatiens)

Our annual Impatiens Sale starts at 8 am Friday May 18 and runs through Sunday May 20, 2012

The sale Price is $16.99 for a tray of 48 plants (regular $22). We will have 14 colors and 10 mixes available this year. The mixes have become very popular, because they are designed by artists.  The seed companies now hire these professionals to choose the colors for their mixes, because most “executives” are clueless when it comes to figuring out which colors go together.  If you feel stressed about being able to do it yourself, then simply choose one of the mixes.  Our most popular mix is Merlot (pronounced "mer-low" like the wine).

Success with Impatiens

So how do you succeed with impatiens? Well, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, they need fertilizer.  We received several pictures last summer from our customers showing off their impatiens.  One lady proudly showed us the difference between her bed, fed with Tina’s Pixie Dust (Osmocote) and her neighbor’s bed that wasn’t.  It really is that simple. One cup of Tina’s Pixie Dust will feed the whole tray of 48 plants all summer long for only $1.99.  And well-fertilized plants will grow faster, and fill in faster, so you actually can buy fewer plants for the same area!  So if you’ve always bought 4 trays, but never fertilized them, spring for the fertilizer this year and your plants will go twice as far!

Sun or Shade?
Traditionally, impatiens are planted in light shade or partial shade, but as long as they are planted before mid June, and you incorporate plenty of organic matter into the soil (see Bed Preparation), impatiens can do quite nicely in the sun.
Bed Preparation
Always try to add some kind of organic matter, like Bumper Crop, compost, or peat moss, to an area before you plant.  Dig it in with a shovel or trowel.  This will increase oxygen to the roots, and increase the water-holding capacity of the soil for those hot, August days.

Spacing
How far apart should you plant them?  That depends on what kind of look you are trying to achieve.  If you want them to grow really tall, plant them about 6 inches apart with one teaspoon of Tina’s Pixie Dust under each plant.  Once they grow and touch each other, they will have nowhere to grow but up, so they make a really nice mini-hedge.  If, however, you prefer to be able to see each individual plant forming its own mound, perhaps with space in between, plant them about a foot apart, with one teaspoon of Tina’s Pixie Dust.  If you plan on skipping the fertilizer, you should plan to plant them right next to each other, since you really won’t see much growth on them at all.

Watering
It’s hard to overwater impatiens PLANTED IN THE GROUND for the first few weeks until the roots grow out into their new soil.  You can go ahead and water them every day if you’d like if the weather is warm.  After about 2 or 3 weeks, they would really like to be watered no more than twice a week. By July, once a week should be plenty, unless they are in baking hot sun.  Impatiens planted in containers should be planted with good quality, bagged potting soil with lots of “white stuff” for drainage.  They will not need as much water in the beginning, but will need to be checked every day during the summer.

Frost?
Is it safe to plant impatiens now?  Well, are we going to have another frost this season?  Who knows?  Generally, our safe planting date here in Spencer is May 31st, although I remember one year in the mid 1980’s, when I froze my newly-planted tomatoes on June 6th.  Keep your eye on the weather forecast, and cover your plants with an old sheet if we are expecting temperatures in the 30’s.  We will do our best to email you frost alerts.  If you decide to wait to plant, be sure to put the plants outside in a shady but not dark place during the day.  They really need the light to continue to thrive.  Don’t just put them in the garage for a week.  That will set them back.  Put them out in light shade during the day, and bring them inside if temperatures drop into the 30’s.

Enjoying
This is the best part. Now just sit back and enjoy. A nice cool glass of lemonade with one of those little umbrellas and a maraschino cherry can help too.