Impatiens sodenii

 

Poor Man's Rhododendron

Impatiens sodenii aka Impatiens oliverii

 

This variety of New Guinea Impatiens can grow to be up to six feet tall in the shade!  They make a stunning hedge along a wall.  Or large mounding statement plants in your garden.  They do not have to be allowed to get that large and take well to being trimmed and kept in large pots.

As with most perennial (evergreen and usually long lived) plants, they will be taller in the shade and shorter out in the full sun.  Out in the full sun, they will have more flowers, but will require more attention.  This variety of impatiens is almost always in bloom in mild climates such as zone 9b and above.

They can also recover from freezing if the original plant has enough of the stems planted below the surface for new shoots to come up from.  Here where we grow them, the ones out in the sun occasionally endure hard freezes during the winter, but they always recover.  They recover very well from wilting if they get dry, but do best if they are fed and watered on a regular basis, especially if you want a lot of flowers.

Best of all, the deer do not eat them and neither do the gophers!!  And the hummingbirds LOVE them!

You will receive 8 large cuttings which should be planted in quality potting mix as soon as they arrive.  You can use a bamboo skewer or popsicle stick to help these large cuttings stay upright.  But they should be planted with at least half of the cutting below the surface.  Then either cover with a light damp paper towel and keep it misted.  Or cover them with clear light plastic such as the bags you buy vegetables in.  When using plastic, using something like skewers to keep the plastic off of the leaves or the leaves will smother.  Plants breath through tiny holes on the surfaces of their leaves.  This will create a tiny greenhouse effect.  Do NOT place in the sun!  Place them somewhere they will get bright light but NO direct sun until you can tell they are growing.  Remove the damp paper towel or plastic as soon as you can see they are growing.  When using plastic, remove and replace daily to exchange the air.

Do not allow the cuttings to get dry, but do not keep the soil sopping wet and never let them sit in water or they will rot instead of grow.  There are many YouTube videos on how to grow plants from cuttings.  And these guys are easy.  I actually make cuttings a foot long and plant them in 5 gallon pots buried up to their leaves and then cover them with very light cloth for a couple of weeks.  I do have some loss because they are outside in the elements, but most of them grow.

And that is why I am sending you eight cuttings!  You can use a variety of methods if you like and you should have success with at least a few of them if not all of them.  Enjoy!