Googling and THINK I understand for IMPATIENS, you do NOT have to deadhead them, that they should just keep flowering.

Jim Ginas
by Jim Ginas
Is that right? thought I pulled the spent flower of the stem to get new ones to grow, though there are so many! Otherwise the look like green plants w/ dead flowers! ???
  2 answers
  • My wife loves these plants and puts them in the ground every year. We use Miracle Grow plant food and they end up quite large in size. While the planting instructions tell us to keep them about 12 inches apart, we go every six inches which causes them to grow higher instead of wider. Our reason is they stand out better and fill in faster so the garden looks fuller early in the season. In any case, we do nothing other then plant, fertilize and water every day. our plants are facing south and in full sun all day so they tend to dry out pretty fast. AS far as flowers, they bloom pretty much all summer long. Never had any issues with them not doing so. They do tend to bloom out towards the end of the growing season, but by then were pulling them out and putting in fall plants anyway.
  • Erica Glasener Erica Glasener on May 28, 2012
    Jim, the dead flowers usually just fall off. If you are looking for another alternative to Impatiens, try Torenia or the clown flower, you don't have to dead head these either.