Impatiens are actually mostly tender (some hardy) perennials.

Then how come in my gardening books they list them as annuals???

Here in zone 5 impatiens are definately annuals. First frost and they are mush. Sometimes, if we have a mild winter, I've had a few that sprouted in the spring. That seldom happens tho. I have nursed them through a winter by bringing them inside. They didn't do so good; they became very leggy and was just too much work for such little return.

I notice that you are in zone 9 - you probably don't have much of a freezing winter.

Here's the real deal! Plants tend to have pretty straightforward, predestined, gene-driven life cycles. We break these cycles down into 3 primary categories, each with several sub-categories. Annual, biennial, and perennial are those main divisions.

Within the perennial group, there are the herbaceous, woody, hardy, tender, etc. A maple tree is a hardy woody perennial. Bulbs are herbaceous perennials (some are tender and some are hardy).

Impatiens is absolutely a tender, herbaceous perennial. This means that it is NOT hardy to cold climates, where it can be grown as on an annual basis. (There are some hardy varieties.) There are SCADS of plants that are incorrectly called annuals (but so what?) that are actually tender perennials: begonia, petunia, pansy, etc. Remember what you said about the annual life cycle? They grow from seed, flower, bear seed and die all in one season. The reason your impatiens lives all year round is because it isn't an annual but a perennial.
Your books (and Axeldog), to be absolutely correct in their terminology, should say," Impatiens is a tender perennial that can only be grown as an annual in my climate."

Does that help any?

Lisa is absolutely correct. Where a plant is grown does not determine whether it is an annual or perennial. Any plant capable of completing three or more annual growth cycles is a perennial. That we might choose to grow it in a zone where it cannot tolerate temperature lows says nothing about annual/perennial. It simply says we've chosen to grow a perennial that is not cold-hardy in zone ___.

Al

I started typing about when Dorie was hitting SUBMIT, but we're on the same page. She covered it nicely. ;o)

Al

Yes, here in zone 9 all we get is rain. I am in inland southern California so it gets very hot (100) in the summers and not all that cold in the winters (35). Anyways, so basically it seems that many books and seed packages aren't going to do me much good. That's annoying. My impatiens are so awesome that I am looking for other kinds of flowers that go bonkers in the shade. Not a fan of begonias. I think they're boring. My coleus plants continue to live throughout the seasons too and they are supposed to be annuals. Blah!

Thanks for the "tender perennial" terminology.

May I make a suggestion? Jamilyian, it appears that you are fairly new at gardening. Do you visit botanical gardens in your area, or are there any? You would be amazed by the amazing displays that can be done, with just about any kind of plant. Even the ugliest "blah" plant in the world can be made interesting, it combined with just the right thing, or grouped en mass. There are jillions of incredible Coleus out there, almost all of which I have never gotten my hands on, because I stick with growing from seed. If you are uninspired by coleus, you should check out the rareplants website, and see their coleus. Also, there are many different kinds of begonias, with color combinations that are endless. Just one begonia here and there is not very impressive, but massed groups of them can be stunning, either in one color or all mixed up. Then there are the angel wing begonias, the tuberose varieties............. And what about Caladiums?? Some sweet potato vine? Coral bells? Hostas? How about shade perennials that bloom?

My "blah!" was not directed towards coleus (I think they are beautiful). It was directed towards the fact that they are listed and sold as annuals but for me they behave like perennials KWIM? It makes it difficult for me to try new plants sometimes because I am not clear on how the plant will behave in my climate zone (and plants are REALLY expensive!) I avoid annuals because of the "quick to die" thing. I like stuff that lasts.

I love hostas but they behave like annuals here. They apparently need 6 weeks of cold weather to grow again.

I'll check out the other ones you mentioned. That sweet potato vine looks very pretty (I just googled it).

I have yet to see a begonia that I like. I don't like the look of waxy flowers. But you never know. I know that they grow well here so I might come around.

Anyway, the whole annual/perennial thing drives me nuts. Maybe I need to move to another part of the country where gardening makes sense.

Cool. I never thought of doing that. ;o)

Al

Hang in there. It will all come together if you keep after it. ;o)

I think you need to visit Las Pilitas Nursery (I don't know where it is except that it's in Southern California) and the Huntington gardens. Also start driving around older neighborhoods in your area and observe/note what thrives, what overwhelms, and what looks absolutely awful.

Jamilyian, I just learned something interesting from you! I wasnt aware that Hostas didnt thrive in zone 9. Not that it matters here in zone 6, but it is something that I never knew before.

If you have never been to a botanical garden before, be prepared to be overwhelmed!! I live an hour away from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, which has an incredible home gardening display garden. Any plant (new or old) that you can think of is there. There are many plants that my eyes just go right over in the books and catalogs, but they are able to bring them to my attention with the creative combinations they do with them. I have been to MANY botanical gardens all over the country (my vacation destinations are determined by which one I want to go to next). I have been to some that arent so great, but I guess that depends upon personal taste. Although I LOVE tropicals, and Hawaii has been my favorite trip of all, I wasnt too inspired by the botanical gardens, simply because I cannot do what they do in their climate, and the plant choices are quite limited it seems. I guess what I mean is, there is little inspiration for anything other than my indoor garden. I remember questioning why there wasnt anymore annual displays, like we have here. Of course, you can find a zillion other things to do in Hawaii and I certainly wasnt dissapointed!!! I could spend a whole week driving that trip to Hana, finding tropicals in the wild that grow like trees, where here they are limited to (at the most) a 12 inch container!

Can anyone elaborate more on the Hosta issue she mentioned? I dont understand why it is that they would "die out" and not return. Is it true that they need to "freeze" for a while in order to thrive? Wouldnt there be many species that would do the same thing? I find this very interesting, I never thought that most things would NOT thrive in zone 9. This could be my lesson for the day.

When I lived in California I just loved the Sunset Western Garden Book. It is made for your climate and I highly recommend it. I find good deals at Walmart.com and it is probably sold at Home Depot. Many garden books are written with a freeze in mind. Now I need those books but found it frustrating in the past. Garden shows are most often showcasing eastern type gardens and information. My favorite show was "Grow It" staring Jeff Cox. He lives in Northern Ca and he focuses on CA gardening. It is no longer filmed but you may find it still broadcasted on HGTV or PBS. Enjoy your nice weather!!

The primary stimulus moving a temperate plant toward dormancy is decreasing photoperiod. Technically, it is lengthening periods of darkness. Chilling temperatures also move the plant toward dormancy and/or deepen dormancy. Once dormant, plants require cold temperatures between freezing and about 45* F. to fulfill a chilling requirement for varying lengths of time. The cold actually releases the plant from its dormant state. Once the chilling requirement is met, the plant is capable of growth, as soon as soil temperatures allow (above 45*). If the chilling requirement is not met, the plant may respond by not coming out of dormancy, or by growing with greatly reduced vigor. Flowering/fruiting would, of course, be greatly affected in plants that receive insufficient chilling. The preceding is somewhat simplified answer to your question. If you have others, please ask.

Al

This is fascinating and something I feel I should have thought of earlier. I guess since it doesnt apply to me, then I havent paid attention. I think I may have the mentality of others: "any plant would thrive better in that zone" because it makes you think of a more tropical, warm climate. Or maybe I just took for granted that it would be simply a "longer" growing period for any plant. Although, I guess, that would apply to annuals, not perennials. I never really thought of it before! I guess that i just assumed that a less severe cold period would actually be better for just about any plant.

So, am I correct in my thinking, that living in this zone would significantly LIMIT the number of plants they can grow?? wow, would have thought that?! I always thought that Florida, Texas, and some California residents would be able to grow just about anything.

Interesting!

"Many garden books are written with a freeze in mind."

This has been my experience with just about every gardening book that is not directly written for Southern California. The problem with California is that there are so many different climate zones because of the ocean and mountains. So if you live near the coast you can grow certain things that you can't grow if you drive 10 miles away. And then there is inland, and then inland. Some inland areas are affected by ocean marine layers and others are not. A lot depends on where you are in relation to the mountains.

We are limited in plant choices such as bulbs. We are able to grow bearded irises and daffodils well, but many many bulbs just don't work.

Other things that only come around once or twice a year in other parts of the country just bloom all of the time such as azaleas and, of course, my impatiens.

Because of the lack of cold weather, all of this means that information about pruning, fertilizing, and seasonality of plants is often incorrect for where I live. And I get confused!

I have two books that are pretty good: The above mentioned Sunset Western Garden book and Pat Welsh's Southern California Gardening. These are good, but since all of my gardening is confined to pots it is just one more thing that is important to check out before purchase.

I just looked up that sweet potato vine in my book and it says "Perennial grown as Annual".

Ellen,
I guess the grass is always greener...here you are in MO thinking that everything would grow better in warmer climates, yet many of us in warmer climates struggle to grow some of the beautiful plants that thrive in cooler temperatures. An example...many northern gardeners get to enjoy their petunias and alyssum all summer. Here, in the Deep South, we plant our petunias in February and usually have to yank them by June because they can't handle our heat. (The wave varieties seem to do better). We'll be planting our pansies and violas in October, and they'll thrive and look gorgeous until mid-May when the heat conquers them and we'll replace them with periwinkle that lasts from April to frost (Thanksgiving).

I get totally jealous when I look at gardening magazines this time of year and see all the gorgeous autumn displays with mums and pumpkins and fall-foliage trees. I definitely prefer the warm temps of the south, but y'all get the gorgeous foliage displays that we can only see pictures of and drool over.

I think we need a more straightforward method of catagorising plants than how we fling the labels of annual and perennial around anymore. I think the labels should state honestly if a plant is annual or perennial and then list zones where the perennials are hardy enough to overwinter.

I was in *mart weeks ago and an elderly lady and her son were eyeballing Alice Dupont mandevilla. She says emphatically "I don't want it if it isn't hardy". They are both clueless and I volunteer it's a wonderful plant, but no it will not survive the winters in Ohio without being brought into a sunroom or otherwise heated. She goes to walk away and her son says "here Mom!, it says RIGHT HERE this is a perennial". The old lady shoot me a look to kill and grabs one and walks off.

It's just common to hear any plant who will not survive your zone's winters listed as annual, when technically that is apples and oranges.

If you're looking for a flowering plant for shade, I've had fabulous luck with Torenia / Wishbone flower this year (first year I've ever seen it). My MIL is an avid gardener and I am usually asking HER for advice, but when she saw my torenia she just HAD to have some for herself. (I joked with her the other day.... who woulda thunk it that YOU would be getting gardening advice from ME???? LOL)

I was pleasantly surprised to find this year that I was able to grow "Supertunia" brand of trailing petunias in almost full shade. They are under a canopy of oak leaves so thick that I would hesitate to even call it "dappled" sunlight, but they get about 45 minutes of LATE evening sunlight (just before sunset) on most days and that seems to be enough to sustain them. (I also read that they like nitrogen, and I feed them accordingly. Not sure if they like it or not, but they are thriving!)