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SunPatiens: Impatiens That Won't Wilt In Full Sun

Plant breeders have been busy, and now SunPatiens® is the newest member of the impatiens family, and as one would guess, it is a sun tolerant variety of the tried-and-true favorite annual. It also is advertised as blooming longer and being bushier than the impatiens that we all use in our shady spaces. It is also described as blooming earlier in the spring and keeping up its profuse bloom until frost.

One of SunPatiens®' parents is the New Guinea type, but unlike it, this new sun lover does not wilt in full sun even in the south. The blooms are described as bold and beautiful, and there are three different types of the plant:

  1. "Landscape" plants spread yet are compact, with a rounded habit, deep green-colored foliage and white, orange, red and magenta flowers;
  2. "Spreading" plants are recommended for hanging baskets, as well as beds, and they have two-toned, golden-edged green leaves, and the marketers claim they will spread yet remain compact and never wilt;
  3. The "Compact" type of plants, recommended for containers as well as beds, is just 24 to 28 inches tall and grows in a tight mound (unlike the 'Landscape' type, which makes mounds and has 2 to 3 foot tall plants with solid green foliage).


All types produce flowers that are 2 to 3 inches wide. If these plants live up to the claims made in their advertising campaign, our gardens will be full of them in no time. So many choices...

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