Busy Lizzies for the impatient gardener

Impatiens, known as Busy Lizzy, are also called Patient Lucy as they grow without a fuss, & are perfect for the absent-minded

CHENNAI: If you want instant colour in your little garden, bring home a few plants of Impatiens, preferably the simple ones called Impatiens wallerina. They are show-offs that lure butterflies and other pollinators with their lovely colours.

Impatiens are called Busy Lizzy in some parts of the world, because they are delightfully busy sending up flowers throughout the year and propagating like rabbits. And in other parts, they are called Patient Lucy because they are so calm and patient and grow on and on without a fuss.

Impatiens are so easy to grow that I’m feeling like a bit of a cheat writing a column on how to grow it! So, let me tell you, instead, why you should grow them. Yes, may not make for a great conversation piece — for that, do try growing a pineapple in your terrace garden. But, I promise you, there are at least half a dozen reasons why Impatiens make great house plants.

Pinch off a bit of the succulent plant from a friend’s garden, stick it into a pot. Within a month, you’ll see flowers. I keep putting in a new stem into small containers such as juice cartons and they make excellent gifts. (Well, that’s what I think, for no one has so far called me a cheapskate to my face.)

Impatiens wallerina come in reds, pinks and oranges and white. There are also many varieties with double whorls and hybrid colour schemes. Seeds are easily available in shops.

The flowers have tiny nectar spurs like little straws growing. Butterflies are attracted to Impatiens, and thus they make excellent pollinators for the vegetable garden.

Impatiens thrive in semi-shade. There are very few house plants that give out flowers in the shade.
Unlike many plants that are stand-offish and demand their space, these plants like company. They like to jostle and grow up tall and strong, literally with each other’s support. This is what makes Impatiens such a popular bedding plant in larger gardens.

They are pest free for the most part. Sometimes, they grow leggy, which is easily rectified if you snip off the leggy branches.

They are cool. I mean apart from being really ‘kewl’. Since all they ask is for moderate but regular watering, the place around these plants always seems to be cool, temperature-wise.

Many years ago, the ethical norm to get plants into your garden was to make friends with neighbours with gardens. When you drooled over their roses, they would say, ‘Here, take a cutting’ and you would oblige.
You said nice things about their chrysanthemums and they’d just pull up a few sections from the base of the plant and give it to you with a generous dose gardening tips.

So, really no one ever went to buy the simple Impatiens. Once, impatient with setting up a balcony garden, I went to a nursery looking for  Impatiens.

The gardener in the nursery pulled out plants that had grown out from under pots, and gave it to me like a bunch of coriander. The plants wilted within minutes. But once home, they quickly picked up strength. Soon there were Impatiens growing from under and around my pots. Why? Because the impatient plant produces seeds in tiny pods that spill seeds all over. Like its close relatives, the common balsam.

Why grow Impatiens They make excellent gifts when you put a new stem into small containers such as juice cartons. They are great pollinators for the vegetable garden. They are pest free for the most part. All that they need is for moderate but regular watering.

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