Impatiens walleriana - Buzy Lizzie

My last post which on Argyreia nervosa (Elephant Vine), where I follow it skywards as it scrambled up the wall. For this post, I've decided to be more down-to-earth and shall feature one of my favourite bedding plants; Impatiens walleriana. It is extremely easy to propagate from cuttings. We simply pinched off any leggy stems and stick them into some potting material. Within a few days, it produces blooms as fresh as ever.

The moniker 'Busy Lizzy' for this plant is most apt as they flower almost non-stop. Masses of flowers are produced at low height, making them good bedding plants and excellent for use as ground cover.

Here in the tropics, it tends to wilt a little by late afternoon, so I plant them under the shade of taller plants such as this shrub of yellow Pachystachys lutea (Lollipop Plant, Golden Shrimp Plant). Here they thrive happily on partial shade and fitered sunlight. The Philodendron Imbe at the back slowly encroah on its space.

Peachy orange with dark green leaves.

Some have lime green foliage.

A variation is Powder pink flowers. This has sprouted in between some Caladium leaves.

A tiny Zizula hylax pygmaea (Pygmy Grass Blue) reposed contentedly on a leaf.

A juicy caterpillar of the Common Lime strangely ended up on this flower.

A grasshopper on Alpinia purpurata stem overlooking a bed of Impatiens.

 The Magdagascar Periwinkle complement them as low border plants for a grassy pathway to the pool.