Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Saturday - June 23, 2012
From: Marietta, GA
Region: Southeast
Topic: Herbs/Forbs
Title: Hybrid Impatiens leaves yellowing from Marietta GA
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
My impatiens looked great when I went out of town, I had recently fertilized. The person left to water them fertilized them. Now they are yellow and dwarfed. Anything I can do?ANSWER:
We were willing to bet that impatiens were non-native to North America, because we see them marketed vigorously and in heavily hybridized forms. However, it turns out that the family Balsaminaceae (Touch-Me-Not) includes three species native to North America, and all three are native to Georgia.
Impatiens capensis (Jewelweed)
Impatiens noli-tangere (Western touch-me-not)
Impatiens pallida (Pale touch-me-not)
The information we got from the webpages above was that they needed shade (2 hours or less of sun a day) and wet soil.
Now these are probably not what you have in your garden, but rather the hybridized plants, but we will use the information we have in our database to try to help you figure out what happened. Of course, if you saw these natives in your garden, you would probably pull them out as weeds, and we can't know what effects the hybridizing of the plants had on their water and sun needs. Try reading this article from Gardening Know-How Caring for Impatiens, and figure out what you were doing or not doing that caused the yellowing leaves. Our first top-of-the head thought is too much fertilizer and not enough water, but again, maybe the hybrids have different needs.
From the Image Gallery
More Herbs/Forbs Questions
Pruning Lyreleaf Sage from McAllen TX
April 14, 2013 - I planted a few Lyre Leaf Sage last year and they bloomed beautifully. I let them seed out and had a number of new plants show up this year. I have never cut the flower/seed stalks back and now that ...
view the full question and answer
Flowering landscape plants for Montgomery TX
March 07, 2013 - Hello I live in Montgomery TX. I am looking for low growing evergreen flowering plants for the front of my three deep beds. The first plant closest to the foundation is loropetalum, then I have a blue...
view the full question and answer
Where to find milkweeds and other butterfly favorites
March 07, 2016 - Our neighborhood in San Antonio is planning a big Arbor Day celebration. One of the events will focus on Monarch Butterflies. We will be releasing some live ones in our park and will have a booth th...
view the full question and answer
Plants that smell like chocolate from Coral Gables FL
July 12, 2012 - I am looking for plants that smell like chocolate. I live in south Florida. We are currently growing and testing Berlandiera lyrata. Do you know of other plants whose flowers smell like chocolate?
view the full question and answer
Small plants for space between stones on a path
November 03, 2007 - We've just installed a stone path (unmortared) near our house and are looking for plants/seeds that would do well in the gaps between the flagstones. Naturally they need to be very low growing and h...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |