Caring for Velvetea Impatiens: Tips for Growing Velvet Love Impatiens Impatiens [1] are a staple annual flower for many gardeners, especially those who need to fill shady spots. These flowers grow well in partial shade and come in a wide variety of colors. If you love the common impatiens found in most garden centers, try the Velvet Love plant. This variety of impatiens is unique with pretty foliage and flowers. Read on for more information about Velvet Love impatiens.
Velvet Love Impatiens Information
Impatiens morsei , also known as Velvet Love Impatiens or Velvetea, is a variety from China that has leaves and flowers unlike most impatiens you have seen. It can be difficult to find at your local nursery, but it’s worth tracking down online if necessary.
The common name comes from the fact that the leaves are a soft, velvety dark green. They are so dark that in certain light they appear black. The leaves also have a bright pink stripe down the center and are anchored to pink stems.
Velvet Love’s flowers are white with orange and yellow markings. They are about 2.5 cm long and tubular with colored markings in the neck. Velvet Love Impatiens grow upright and quite tall when given the right conditions. They can grow up to 61 cm.
Growing Velvet Love Impatiens
This variety of impatiens, like other varieties, is easy to grow. Velvetea impatiens care is easy if you can give the plants their preferred conditions. They prefer a warm climate, so for many people these plants are annuals. If you live in a warm place, you can grow flowers from your Velvet Love plant all year round.
They also do well with at least partial shade and some moisture. The soil should be kept rich and moist, but also needs to drain well. These plants soak up water, especially in summer and dry periods.
In addition to growing Velvet Love as an outdoor annual, consider potting it as a houseplant. If you can keep it moist and moist, this plant thrives in containers and even a terrarium [2] . The indoor warmth will also keep it blooming for much of the year.
Pruning Impatiens: Learn more about pruning impatiens plants
Impatiens [1] plants are the classic shade flowers [2] . They are perfect for filling in the shady areas of beds and gardens where other plants simply don’t thrive. They add color and cheer, but impatiens can also get leggy and display more stems that bloom. A little trimming will help keep your plants blooming and attractive until the weather really turns.
Why Pruning Impatiens Is Important
Not only do flowers fill shady areas, but they are also fairly easy to care for. They need to be watered regularly, but otherwise you usually don’t have to deal with them for long periods of time. One thing you may want to do occasionally is prune or cut back impatiens.
About halfway through the season, you may notice that your impatiens become a little leggy, meaning their stems become quite long and weak and produce fewer flowers. You will see lots of holes or empty spaces in your plants as opposed to fullness. Trimming and pruning impatiens is necessary if you want them to look full, healthy, and colorful throughout the growing season.
Fortunately, this is neither difficult nor time-consuming.
How to Prune Impatiens
Rejuvenating leggy and overgrown impatiens is as easy as a quick pruning. To keep your plants blooming all summer long, start by pinching off the tips of the stems after each flower has bloomed and faded. This deadheading [3] encourages new flowers. You can do this regularly throughout the growing season.
Cut the entire plant back four to six inches (10-15 cm) or three inches (7.5 cm) from the ground only once or twice, starting in mid-summer. Only do this if you see the plant becoming leggy. If it stays full and grows well, it doesn’t need to be cut back.
When pruning your impatiens, pay the most attention to the center leaves. Cutting these off encourages the side shoots to produce more fullness. Knowing how to trim impatiens will help you keep your beds under control and looking great, but it is also important to avoid the spread of disease [4 ] .
If you use shears or shears in the garden, disinfect them in a bleach solution between uses.
Impatiens Water Needs – Learn How to Water Impatiens Plants
For colorful blooms in the shade garden, there’s nothing better than the flowers of the Impatiens plant [1] . Attractive foliage fills the bed before flowers appear. Due to their preference for growing in partial, afternoon and/or filtered shade, many impatiens’ water needs are different than sun-loving plants. Read more to learn how to properly water impatiens.
About Watering Impatiens Plants
Watering impatiens in your flower beds and borders depends largely on the soil they are planted in and the type of light they receive. The soil is ideally rich and well-draining with a good amount of compost and organic matter incorporated before planting. Morning sun, partial morning sun, or filtered sun (e.g. through tree branches) works well with most older impatiens varieties.
Newer varieties of this flower, called SunPatiens [2] , can tolerate more sun than older varieties such as Balsam [3] and some New Guinea impatiens [4] . However, all species appreciate moist soil and can wilt if not provided with enough water – a way to determine when they need watering.
How to Water Impatiens
Watering the impatiens plant should be constant, but does not need to be daily when temperatures are comfortable in late spring and summer. When temperatures are in the high 80s or 90s, these flowers are more likely to need watering every day. Mulch helps retain moisture so you may not need to water as often.
Quickly soak the area where impatiens plants are growing, but do not overwater them. Spring watering, especially if you are growing your plants from seeds, may only be necessary once or twice a week. The soil for young seedlings should not be waterlogged. Soil that remains too moist will sometimes cause seedlings to become soggy [5] .
These plants are susceptible to water mold ( Plasmopara obducens) , often called downy mildew [6] , which causes growth retardation, leaf drop, flower drop and rot. Learning how and when to water impatiens will help prevent these and other disease problems.
Here too, water regularly if possible. After rain, do not water until the soil is dry. Water at the same time of day. Early morning or late afternoon are suitable times. Do not water when the sun is shining on the plants.
Try to water as much as possible at the roots without getting the foliage wet. A short-term low soaker hose is a simple and convenient method to properly water impatiens. The hose can be covered with mulch so as not to spoil the beauty of your flower bed.
Houseplant Impatiens: How To Keep Impatiens Plants Indoors
Impatiens [1] have long been one of the most common additions to landscape plantings and annual flower beds. These easy-to-find flowering plants are readily available at garden centers and nurseries and thrive in shady locations. For this reason, impatiens are excellent candidates for indoor container cultivation throughout the winter. Read on to learn more about caring for impatiens plants indoors.
Can you grow impatiens indoors?
Although most commonly grown as a tender annual bedding plant due to their inability to tolerate frost, impatiens plants that must be brought indoors can be easily and reliably grown during the winter months. This relatively simple process provides gardeners with lush growth and blooms during the coldest times of the year.
How to Grow Impatiens as a Houseplant
The first step in growing these plants indoors is to bring impatiens indoors. If outdoor impatiens have been grown in a container all summer, these plants can be carefully cut back and then brought indoors. If impatiens plants have been grown in the garden, the easiest solution is to take impatiens cuttings in late summer.
To take impatiens cuttings [2] , simply remove about 6 inches (15 cm) of the stem. Remove all but one or two pairs of leaves from the bottom of the cutting. Place the cutting in a well-draining growing medium. Make sure the mixture stays moist. After a few weeks, roots will have developed and growers can transplant into a new container indoors. Since impatiens are known to root quite easily, the use of rooting hormone [3] is not necessary.
After bringing the plants indoors and planting them in a well-draining container, a major key to success is selecting an optimal growing location. Although they tolerate low light, the lack of sunlight during the winter months can negatively affect the growth of impatiens. For this reason, it is important to place the container in a sunny, south-facing location. Gardeners who are unable to create the right lighting conditions can also find success using additional grow lights.
Houseplant impatiens grow best when temperatures are not allowed to drop below 55 degrees F (13 C). This will ensure stable growing conditions conducive to flowering throughout the winter. During the entire growth phase, the plants should be kept consistently moist, taking care that the soil is not waterlogged and there is a risk of root rot [4] .
Last but not least, the plants need occasional misting when humidity is low. With proper care, the process of growing impatiens indoors can reward gardeners with constant explosions of color until spring arrives the next growing season.