Wendy, I just wanted to share my experience with Impatiens Balfourii with you...... I received some of these seeds in a round robin swap two years ago and about 5 plants germinated. I put them in a shady spot in the garden and marveled at them all season - where had they been all my life? Just beautiful and so different from the acres of bedding impatiens my neighbors put in evey year. That August I went into my usual "Ok, how do I collect seed on all these plants, including IB, that were new to me this year?" and like you had a hard time getting seed from IB. Maybe got ten seeds, far fewer than I wanted. So I started last summer with those seeds WS and they all germinated. I decided to put a bunch in a gorgeous new urn I'd gotten and they looked great (I think they are very elegant). Last August, I had a bit more success collecting seed and was excited that I would be able to fill in lots of shadey spots with this plant. Long story short (er!) I ended up being able to give the WS seedlings away this year because IB had heavily self seeded (or carried by birds - must be cause there were some 20' from the urn)all over my shady patio area. It looks wonderful. I have been able to transplant some of these volunteers to other places. I feel like I won the lottery and everyone comments on this unusal plant. No one had ever seen it before here until I had a friend over who sometimes works for a local MAster Gardner on her extensive beds. She said- "oh, you better watch this one - it's very invasive" So, for now, I am loving the volunteers.They have been blooming their heads off since June and never look ratty or tired. I bet you get some volunteers too and won't have to worry too much about seed collecting! Nancy

Adele - I swear that you guys offered I. balfourii years ago (before you worked there)! I can walk to the corner of the greenhouse and point to the bench it was on. If it wasn't balfourii it was a small flowered Imp that looked very similar. It wasn't offered in small pots, only in large plants. This summer and last summer have been brutal on my sensitive tropicals - too hot and too dry, so I can see his hesitation. I don't know how he chooses what he offers now, it all seems like a cr@pshoot, there is no way to know what will sell. I do like flashy blooming or flashy foliage plants. I don't care if they are perennial or not. I overwinter certain things but let the rest of them compost into the ground. My perennial and shrub areas are pretty full so I don't need much, it's colorful potted plants that really make me pull out my wallet. I love Annies Annuals, I think it is the best put-together printed catalog on the market (I work in publishing) and she seems drawn to the same types of plants that I admire. But I hesitate to shop from the west coast, most of my failures have come from far away whereas most of my successes have been either local or grown from seed. No matter what, I can always find something to buy when I visit your workplace. Just keep doin whatcher doin and I'll keep a shoppin

I have some of those in my garden for couple of years already! They really do self-sow and look very pretty and delicate! I always want to collect those seeds, but always a step too late! Karen

I am looking for Double Impatiens seeds - any color. I have dark purple (almost black) hollyhocks, African Daisies and mixed Cleome seeds for trade.