New Guinea Impatien Seeds?

I've been looking around, and can only find ONE source for purchasing New Guinea Impatien seeds. Harris Seeds offers them, but they really aren't the color that I want, as I wanted more like the Super Sonic Hot Pink. I'm also wondering if you can truly even grow these from seeds? They seem to be hard to find if you can. Can they? And if so, does anyone know where I can get the seeds for the Super Sonic Hot Pink?

Hi Karrie,

The Sonic and Super Sonic strains of New Guinea Impatiens are patented cultivars distributed by Syngenta Flowers, so you can't buy seeds from them.

http://trialgardenspsu.com/search_summary.php?species=Impatiens+-+New+Guinea&cultivar=super+sonic&colorflw=Any&supplier=Any&trial_year=Any&accession_num=&finalsunshdave-operator=%3D&finalsunshdave=&comments_report_summary=&species_rank=&trial_rank_all_entries=&percent_of_entries=Any&page=1

If you knew someone who was growing them, they might have saved seeds from that you could grow, but as seeds of complex hybrids, they wouldn't be uniform or true to type. They might be nice, though. If you took cuttings from them, those would come true, but it is illegal to propagate patented plants vegetatively.

Burpee has a mix of New Guinea Impatiens

http://www.burpee.com/flowers/impatiens/impatiens-%28new-guinea%29-hot-divine-mix-hybrid-prod000226.html?catId=2088&trail=

Swallowtail Gardens have the Divine series of New Guinea Impatiens

http://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/annuals/impatiens.html#Divine%20Series%20New%20Guinea%20impatiens%20seeds

Hazzard's also has the Divine series of New Guinea Impatiens. You can do a search of their site at:

http://www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH&Store_Code=Hazwho

I don't know if you are going to find a seed equivalent to the patented Super Sonic Hot Pink.

ZM

Oh THANK YOU Zen Man! Swallowtail has more of what I am looking for, and they don't look terribly expensive. They don't have the hot pink I want, but that deep cherry red, is close......

Karrie,

"... and they don't look terribly expensive."

Actually, if you look at the seed counts, they are pretty expensive. At Swallowtail, your $3.99 gets you only 15 seeds! That is more than 26 cents per seed. At Harris, your $9.35 gets you 100 seeds, for a fraction over 9 cents per seed. The Swallowtail seeds cost nearly three times as much per seed as Harris.

ZM

yes, but I didn't like the colors of the one at Harris.......

See, I really like the Super Sonic Hot Pink ones, but I can't get those by seed, and the plants are too expensive to fill all that needs to be filled. I want something bright, but not actual red, to go with white Bacopa. The cherry red and the violet caught my interest. I am going to buy a basket of the hot pink ones and try cuttings from it for the next summer (not this upcoming one). I also really liked the dark foliage of the hot pink ones that I had before, from a mother's day present/basket a couple of years ago. Just sooooo spensive!

Hi Karrie,

I see your point. There are actually some seed companies that are selling New Guinea Impatiens at about 50 cents per seed in packets of 10 seeds, so their seeds can be exotically expensive. I wish you luck, because the seeds are tiny and can be tricky to start. I assume you will be starting them inside. Have you considered begonias?

ZM

yes - I will seed indoors, and know how to do the tiny seeds. I have tried begonias, and find they don't do well planted with other plants, because the other plants usually want more water than they do, and they rot. I even tried begonias alone, and they just don't like me, lol...... didn't over water them.... OUCH! 50 cents per seed? That is crazy! I am thinking about buying the cherry and the violet n.g. imps, and mixing them with the Bacopa.

Hi Karrie,

Well, keep us posted on your experiences growing New Guinea Impatiens from seed. Not a lot of people do that, so your experiences could help others who wish to have a lot of New Guinea Impatiens, but can't afford to buy the patented plants.

ZM

you got it Zen!

It really pays to search the web for seeds at better prices.
But sometimes the colors that you want will cost more.
You might be able to do cuttings of the plants too?
I do that if plants or seeds are expensive, but have not tried
New Guinea Impatiens yet. I have one plant which was saved from last summer,
so will try to take cuttings.

Hi CL,

Technically it is illegal to grow cuttings from patented plants. But a lot of people do it. As long as you are growing the cuttings just for yourself, for your own use, it is probably alright. I haven't seed any "cuttings police" about. But if you were growing the patented plant cuttings for resale, then you would be on thin ice.

ZM

But how do you know anyone has a patent?
I do not check on patents before taking cuttings?

When you buy a patented plant, it will have a label. If a company name appears on the label, the plant is probably patented.

and then look online to see when the patent expires.

Thanks. One less thing to worry about by doing seeds.

Hi CL,

Ornamental seeds are worry-free legally, but the reality is that many of the best cultivars of many ornamentals are patented. You probably aren't interested in growing roses from seed, and most rose varieties are patented, although as Karrie mentioned, patents do expire. But it's not just roses. Coleus, calibrachoa, petunias, impatiens and new guinea impatiens are just a few of the patented annual ornamentals that you may encounter at a garden center. And the patented ones are usually way better than what you can grow from seed.

ZM

I agree with you Zen.

Hello I haved ordered some seeds from swallowtail garden I have ordered divine mix, divine red and white and xtreme tango mix and Athena orange. I agree I didn't get many seeds but I got what I needed. I planted my seeds in my self wAteringseed starter from lee valley and today I am seeing sprouts coming up. I will try to let you know how it goes over the next few weeks. Also I do have them under flourescent lights as well.

Well it has been about a week. I continue to see more seeds coming up. Out of 24 I see about 16 beginning to sprout. I expect to see a few more. So far so good.

:-)

Good info! Keep us up to date on your efforts.

Yes, I know patents are there to protect the original breeder's interests.

I am so bored in my house now. It has been snowing off and of all month. Yesterday was a nice day though. I keep checking in my impatiences some are looking nice already getting second leaves others though are still barely up. I took off my cover the babes will have to make it without the dome. I don't need 24 plants anyway. I am so happy to see them. I alway enjoy my impatience even more when I have grown them from seed. I have got march and April to watch them grow! I know I am going to have so much bursting together out by middle of may. I don't like what I do to our electric bill. But im bored this gives me something to do now.

I know that feeling------itching for spring!
I am going to start up my lights today, and begin some seeds in trays under them.
It will be mainly petunias,but I know I have a few impatiens seeds in my seed bin.
And I have a few seeds of the Attar of Roses geranium (pelargonium).
Caroline

Well I made a mistake I had a few petunias not come up so I moved all the ones that came up together. I saw I had some left over seeds so I planted 24 more plants. Only when I was done didi realize that I just panted all of my remaining impaten seeds. I do not know how I am going to use all these plants since they need a little shade. Geeze now I got to figure outwhatto do with them.

We all do that! There are seed swaps here so we can donate to others.
Also Community Gardens here will take extras.
Never got my lights going since I will be away for a while.
Going to start them end of March, now.

Well my impatiens are doing well my lat group has done well. I got a few new pots from qvc which I look forward to filling with my impatiens.
I need to get outside today has been another day that was a little too chilly for me. The end of the week looks good though.

My impatiens and petunias are just sprouting under lights.
Tomatoes and peppers too.
Starting begonia tubers now.

I have begonias started they are growing very slow for me. The onesi started in feb. that survived looks nice now the other ones are real slow in growing

I went with a regular type impatien - bright cherry pink. They have all sprouted now. I also planted white bacopa seeds as well, which are also doing good. I've never grown these from seed before - usually I just go to the nursery and buy flats. I still may have to! lol.

Karrie,

I have heard that the regular type Impatiens have recently developed a serious problem with Downy Mildew.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_rn=11&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=15&gs_id=iu&xhr=t&q=impatiens+downy+mildew&es_nrs=true&pf=p&biw=1280&bih=930&sclient=psy-ab&oq=impatiens+downy&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.45645796,d.b2I&fp=7bfa033871245053

Hopefully yours will not be affected.

ZM

I read that if you are starting from seed you have a better chance of not having tht virus. I live in zone 6 I am hoping next week to start setting out my plants. Still waiting to see the weather forcast the second week of may.

Really? I had some last year and didn't have any problem like that. When did this start?

Both New Guinea and ordinary Impatiens started under lights,
no problem.

I guess it started a few years ago. Some nurseries got it real bad. Around here in WV I haven't seen it much.

I hadn't heard about it, and in the west. But I will get us on guard! I can do this - I know the people.

Most of the large nurseries in Michigan have decided not to offer regular impatiens this year; they were a disaster last year. They say that the New Guineas are not affected by the virus. If you plant your regular impatiens from seed and had a problem with the virus last year, you should not plant your impatiens in the sane spot this year unless you use New Guineas. I planted New guinea seeds about a month ago and almost none of them have germinated; I have great luck with all my other seedling and do not know what I did wrong. Very sad.

This is a little off topic, but since I had limited success with N.G. impatiens previously, last year I tried a different variety, Camellia-Flowered Impatiens Balsamina (from J.L.Hudson). Not only did I get practically 100% germination, but they grew into big healthy plants with little attention from me - after planting in early March and a few weeks under lights, I just stuck them in my pop-up plastic greenhouse until planting time in May. They have lots of flowers (borne on the sides of the plant instead of the top!) but the blooms only last about two months. This year, I'm going to plant a second batch next week to provide replacements when the first blooms fade.

Don, do you have any pictures? Or a link so I can go take a look at them?

I was lax in not taking pix, but if you go to Plant Files, they are listed under Genus: Impatiens, Species: Balsamina.
Your note reminded me to add my comments in PF as well. Thanks.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/124441