Please, no Impatiens

[Petee]

I see that greenhouses aren't being very ethical this year in not selling Impatiens.  Once the soil around them is contaminated then it's unusable for Impatiens again and you're probably sending it along to those downwind too.

 

Please switch to New Guinea Hybrid Impatiens till they can start selling resistant Impatiens.  You're liable to be wasting your money anyway if they die.

[Bon]

One of our favorite bedding plants this spring comes with a warning: risk of sudden, violent death.

Information sheets available among the colorful flowers at Stan's Garden Center, on Buffalo Road in Harborcreek Township, notify buyers that garden variety impatiens could be taken down by a deadly plant mildew that arrived in Erie in mid-August 2012.

The mildew not only could return this year but in a few years could kill off impatiens entirely, or be killed itself by extended hot, dry weather."The long and short of it is, we don't know what's going to happen," said Stan's Garden Center Vice President Josh Skarzenski.Impatiens, formally known as impatiens walleriana, are beloved for their colorful blooms and shade tolerance. Backyard gardeners this spring are getting the plants while they can, or shunning them in favor of others that are immune to the mildew."There are two types of customers: one who loves impatiens, wants them and will buy them no matter what, and a second who doesn't want to throw money away on 'bad' plants," Skarzenski said.Cathy Riggle, of Millcreek Township, plants a vegetable garden and a variety of annual and perennial flowers to refresh her landscape each spring. She generally plants impatiens around her back deck but hadn't seen any this year."I was hoping that maybe it was just a little early for them," she said.Made aware of the mildew, Riggle said she'll pass on impatiens this year. "I'll probably just look for a substitute," she said.Skarzenski gambled that others will still want impatiens in their gardens this season. Stan's Garden Center cut back production of the flower in its Harborcreek greenhouses by 20 percent this spring but has about 150,000 for sale that were grown from seed and have been protected from the mildew."We didn't just cross them off the list but gambled and grew thousands of flats to have them available. I'll know in July if that was a bad gamble," Skarzenski said.Impatiens downy mildew, the disease killing the plants, originated in Europe and reached the U.S. in 2004. It was confined to small areas in the South until hurricane winds and rain apparently brought the spores north and east "almost overnight" in 2011 and 2012, Skarzenski said. The spores reached Erie during cool, wet weather in mid-August."People went out one day and had beautiful blooms, and went out five days later and had little sticks. The disease is that quick, that aggressive," Skarzenski said.There's no cure."Once a plant gets it, that's it. It's terminal," he said.The mildew isn't harmful to humans, according to University of Delaware researchers, but it can kill generations of plants. Healthy impatiens planted in the same place where others died last summer will likewise wither and die, said Elaine Winslow, a plant division supervisor at Potratz Floral Shop and Greenhouses, on Buffalo Road. Potratz also grew fewer impatiens this season and is advising buyers of the risk of mildew."Spores can live in the ground one to five years, even without a plant host. And because they're windblown, it's very difficult to protect your plants. If a neighbor has downy mildew, it can easily be blown to your garden or your container," Winslow said.The mildew also affects double impatiens, balsams and jewel weed, a wildflower common along local wood lines, Winslow said.Gardeners can take steps to prevent the disease, or plant different flowers."We increased production of other plants, including some we've never grown before, for people who don't want to take the chance on impatiens," Skarzenski said.Those other plants include begonias and New Guinea and divine impatiens, both immune to downy mildew. The lesser-known divines have the spiky leaves of New Guinea impatiens and the small blossoms of their endangered cousins."You didn't see divines before, and now they're huge," Skarzenski said. "We got 9,000 seeds, and it was hard to get those."Potratz is recommending New Guinea impatiens, including a variety called sunpatiens, and other kinds of colorful shade plants, including coleus, begonias and torenia, a flower in the snapdragon family that blooms in shades of cornflower blue, yellow, purple and lavender."Or you can use some kind of ground cover perennial and accent it with a few other little things," Winslow said.Sally and Neal Potter didn't know about the blight on impatiens when they shopped for landscaping plants last week. They bought New Guinea impatiens at Gerlach's Garden and Floral Center, at West 32nd Street and Sterrettania Road, to plant in large pots at their Millcreek Township home. The Potters also shop at other locally owned garden centers."You're better off to go to places like Gerlach's or Stan's, because you know what you're getting; most of the plants are professionally, locally grown," Neal Potter said.Impatiens grown in Erie-area greenhouses are free of the mildew, growers said, but that could change once gardeners plant them at home."In greenhouse conditions, the plants are OK, because they're more protected and we spray. When people put them in the ground at their house, the environment totally changes," Winslow said.Home gardeners can continue to spray fungicides on the plants and take other steps to prevent downy mildew, Skarzenski said."You can't cure it, but you can do things to try to prevent it," he said.While Ball Horticulture, Syngenta and other national growers feverishly look for ways to engineer impatiens that are immune to the mildew, a number of large growers in other parts of the Northeast opted not to plant impatiens, one of their largest cash crops, this spring, Skarzenski said."It's really hurting a lot of the big growers," he said.And that means that gardeners in some parts of the country won't have the choice to plant impatiens or not."There are areas ... where you just won't find them," Skarzenski said.

[Bon]

Stave off downy mildew
While it probably isn't possible to prevent downy mildew in your garden, there are things you can do to improve your impatiens' odds of avoiding it:- Wait until early June to plant. The mildew thrives in cooler temperatures and moisture.- Water plants in the morning or afternoon, so foliage dries quickly, and don't water every day. Even better, when you do water, use a soaker hose to water so that leaves and foliage remain dry.- Spray regularly with fungicide, such as Daconil, or others recommended by a greenhouse.- Plant in containers for better air circulation, and water from the bottom.SOURCE: Josh Skarzenski, Stan's Garden CenterChanging landscapesOther plants in addition to impatiens provide color in shady areas, and these are immune to downy mildew:- New Guinea impatiens, including divines, which, like their impatiens walleriana cousins, bloom in vibrant red, pink, purple and orange, but are more tolerant of sun. Grows 1-2 feet tall and wide.- Begonias, offering tried-and-true pink, red and white blossoms, in shade or sun. Grows 6-18 inches tall and 6-12 inches wide.- Torenia, with trumpet-shaped blooms and both upright and trailing varieties, in yellow, purple and blue. Grows 8-12 inches tall and 6-9 inches wide.- Coleus, whose color is in its foliage and ranges from pale green and pink to deep burgundy. Grows 1-4 feet tall and 1-3 feet wide.SOURCE: Stan's Garden Center, Potratz Floral Shop and Greenhouses, Better Homes and Gardens Plant Encyclopedia

[MIM307]

I hadn't heard of any of this!  I also plant impatients in my front beds.  Thanks so much for the tips!! 

[Petee]

With our climate being warmer and damper, we are going to be seeing a lot of new fungus type diseases.  If you have ANY unusual reactions from your plants then call your local Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners for free diagnosis and growing information.  That's their job, to help people grow. 

 

Jefferson County Cooperative Extension  849-7361