GARDENING

Soprano impatiens made their debut this year, and I can truthfully say I wish every flower I planted was this easy to grow.

They arrived in 2022 with four colors: orange, bright red, violet shades and white. In 2023, salmon and rose will be added to the Soprano series.

If you have read any of my previous columns, you understand The Garden Guy is sun challenged. It makes for great butterfly hummingbird and pollinator photography, but I am always shooting to a backdrop of shade. The Soprano series has become a superstar to me giving dazzling partnerships with hydrangeas, camellias, azaleas, hostas and ferns.

I suspect there is a generation of gardeners out there that hasn’t tried the shadier impatiens. Proven Winners has elected to reference the Sopranos as bedding impatiens. That certainly is appropriate as, according to the famed Missouri Botanical Garden, they are the most popular bedding plant today. In past generations, the name Busy Lizzy was commonly associated with these flowers.

The Soprano impatiens, according to tag, reach 10 to 15 inches tall with a spread of 12 to 14 inches. I have several beds, and most of mine are pushing 24 inches. This is absolutely wonderful as they have almost an uncountable number of flowers. The Sopranos have definitely put the fun back into growing impatiens.

In my area, hydrangeas are most often a shade of blue and look their best if given protection from the hot, afternoon sun. I absolutely love Soprano impatiens grown in partnership with the big mop head hydrangeas and especially in areas where I have also incorporated hostas. The salmon and orange Sopranos are an astounding sight contrasted with the blue hydrangea blossoms.

In another area, I alternated salmon, bright red and orange to create a Southwest or Santa Fe mix. This mix is in a bed up against a brick wall and also repeated nearby as a border in front of camellia sasanqua and fine fern leaf textured mahonia.

The Garden Guy has fallen head over heels with Crested Surf a variety of Crested Japanese Painted Fern. I created an informal drift or sweep of the fern then repeated the same shape with Soprano Rose in on one side and Soprano white on the other. I feel that one of the most exquisite ferns we can grow needs a beautiful partner, and the Soprano impatiens are perfect.

I don’t think I have ever read that impatiens attract pollinators, but over the past two years, I have photographed Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies, Spicebush butterflies and Cloudless Sulphur butterflies around the plants.

When you consider that the impatiens blooms from the time you plant it in the spring until the first hard frost, you are talking about an extremely good value for your landscape dollar. In my area, that is normally 210 days. What other plant can you name that will bloom for that long?

Soprano impatiens do best in partial or full shade in a soil that is organic rich, fertile and welldrained. Not everyone has such wonderful soil, so incorporate three to four inches of compost or humus to loosen the soil to provide a good home for your new plants. In most of my beds, I have a good soil that was actually combined with pea gravel, and surprisingly, the Soprano impatiens are loving it.

While working the soil, incorporate a slowrelease fertilizer like a 12-6-6 blend with minor nutrients at a rate of two pounds per 100 square feet of planting area. Space them eight to 12 inches apart, planting at the same depth they are growing in the container. Keep them watered and fed with light applications of fertilizer every four to six weeks, and by fall, you will have a look that just may rival the spring azalea bloom.