The government takes a lot of bashing for the way our tax money is spent, but sometimes the people who work in Washington get it right. Few would have guessed that when USDA plant collectors Harold Winters and J. J. Higgins, on a trip jointly sponsored by the government and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, flew to the remote Southern Pacific nation of New Guinea to collect a few wildflowers in 1970, they would be adding fuel to our nation s economic engine. They succeeded in introducing over a dozen different species of impatiens which were used to create the hybrids that we enjoy in our gardens today. The original New Guinea Impatiens were more upright growing than regular impatiens with larger leaves and flowers. The foliage is a bright green, sometimes variegated or shaded with purplish pigments.
Most modern hybrids produce branches freely and form compact balls covered with flowers.
The flowers are often deeply pigmented with intense shades of red and orange, plus selections with more muted shades of pink and white. Blooms are 2 inches across with the long nectary spur extending behind the flower. Much of the breeding work on the modern New Guinea Impatiens has been carried out by the Kientzler greenhouse company in Gensingen, Germany. They have been introducing a steady string of vegetatively propagated plants since the early 1980's and now offer over 50 selections. Their Paradise Series is the largest growing group, with plants routinely growing to 16 inches tall and wide by the end of the summer.