Why You Shouldn't Grow Impatiens Walleriana This Year (2013)

Last year, you may have experienced, or at least read about, the sudden dying of the popular garden plant Impatiens walleriana, the best selling annual whose colors brighten the shady s[pts in our yards until frost. But this year, many garden centers will not be selling them due to downy mildew, a deadly fungus-like disease that spread from 22 states in 2011 to 34 states (including Pennsylvania) in 2012.  Cool temperatures, high humidity and moisture from rain and overhead sprinklers fuel the spread of the disease. Once the plant is infected by the mildew spores that are found in soil, water and winds from as far away as a hundred miles, small yellow spots appear on the tops of the leaves and fluffy white-gray growths on the underside. There is no cure. The plant shrivels and dies in a matter of days. The spores, which are resistant to cold, flooding and drought, can survive the winter and live in the soil for a year or more. Be prepared to try something different in your shady areas!  (Exerpts from Virginia Smith's article in the Philadelphia Inquirer "Withering News for Gardeners".)