Field, researchers and plant breeders all over the world are working very hard to find or create disease resistant strains of Impatiens. The development of new cultivars takes a very long time since field testing can't be rushed. Once the testing has been completed, it will take a long time to build up enough propagation stock that the plants can be introduced to the world's market place. I'm sure that most of the major seed houses are hot on the track. It will be interesting to see what comes out in the future. Keep Googling for disease resistant impatiens; I expect that we'll begin seeing some worthy of trying pretty soon. I strongly suspect that the new Impatiens may be a hybrid and might

The larger holes/damage in the small leaf you're holding look like mechanical injury - what would be akin to a bruise to a human. The spots on the underside of the leaf are oedema. I've written about that & I'll leave something about it at the end of my post. Usually the driving cause behind its occurrence is over-watering, but there are several cultural contributes that can also cause or exacerbate the malady. Using a "tell" to tell you when it's time to water will help you determine what moisture conditions are deeper in the pot. I'll also leave something about that, below. If you have interest, there are some other things that can help alleviate the impact of excess water, which causes a dearth of air in the soil, which causes limited root function and poor root health. Just ask if you have interest. FWIW, I'd guess that over-watering is directly or indirectly responsible for the overwhelming % of requests for help on all fora with strong connections to container growing. Oedema Oedema is a physiological disorder that can affect all plants. It occurs when the plant takes up more water than it can rid itself of via the process of transpiration. The word itself means 'swelling', which is usually the first symptom, and comes in the form of pale blisters or water-filled bumps on foliage. Under a variety of circumstances/cultural conditions, a plant's internal water pressure (turgidity) can become so high that some leaf cells rupture and leak their contents into inter-cellular spaces in leaf tissue, creating wet or weepy areas. Symptoms vary by plant, but as the malady progresses, areas of the leaf turn yellow, brown, brown with reddish overtones or even black, with older damage appearing as corky/ scaly/ ridged patches, or wart/gall-like bumpy growth. Symptoms are seen more frequently in plants that are fleshy, are usually more pronounced on the underside of leaves, and older/lower leaves are more likely to be affected than younger/upper leaves. Oedema is most common in houseplants during the winter/early spring months, is driven primarily by excessive water retention in the soil, and can be intensified via several additional cultural influences. Cool temperatures, high humidity levels, low light conditions, or partial defoliation can individually or collectively act to intensify the problem, as can anything else that slows transpiration. Nutritional deficiencies of Ca and Mg are also known contributors to the malady. Some things that can help you prevent oedema: * Increase light levels and temperature * Monitor water needs carefully – avoid over-watering. I'd heartily recommend a soil with drainage so sharp (fast) that when you to water to beyond the saturation point you needn't worry about prolonged periods of soil saturation wrecking root health/function. Your soil choice should be a key that unlocks the solutions to many potential problems. * Avoid misting or getting water on foliage. It slows transpiration and increases turgidity. * Water as soon as you get up in the AM. When stomata close in preparation for the dark cycle, turgidity builds. If you water early in the day, it gives the plant an opportunity to remove (for its own needs) some of the excess water in the soil. * Put a fan in the room or otherwise increase air flow/circulation. Avoid over-crowding your plants. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

jeanner: Yes, that's my top pond in the fourth pic down. Here are some pics of my water lillies in the top pond. These were taken over the weekend. The most blooms I have ever had open at one time: 9: These were taken at around 9 a.m. before all the lillies opened. These were taken around noon after they all opened. Here is one of the many pond spiders that live at the edge of my pond. I absolutely hate, hate, HATE spiders. I was shaking so bad when I took these pics some of them are blurry. Was trying to get my floating duck and ducklings unstuck with a stick when I hit the web and noticed it. Wonder how they get that web spun from one floating planter to the next without going into the water. This spider is so colorful I couldn't resist. After I took the pics I was shaking so bad I had to go ay down after I hurled. I still get the creeps looking at it. My son can't believe I did this either. What we won't do for our ponds!!!! Lol Enjoy. Jenny

Greeting fellow lovers of the soil! My name is Megan and I'm currently a student. My husband and I moved to the Denver metro area in August of 2012 from central Oklahoma. We had a less than successful container garden going on our spacious porch for our first year gardening there. We now live technically in Denver, but a stone's throw from Cherry Creek Reservoir. I grew up in a very rural town with a population of around 1,000 people, so living in the city has been a major change for me especially. I am very much a country girl. My husband, on the other hand, has lived in smaller cities most of his life, and even lived in Honolulu for many years. We both long to escape the city life together one day, but that will have to wait for now. Growing up, my dad and his wife had a hog and horse farm and they also had a decent sized garden. I remember the joys of wandering the garden wide eyed and curious. My farm experience was short lived however, but was the sort of experience that stays with a person for life. It is where my connection with and love of nature began. I would love to work at a garden center eventually, but am not sure if I would be hired due to lack of experience. That said, I'd also love to take horticulture classes if there were any closer to me. For now I have just been doing my own horticulture research in my spare time until I can attend formal classes for it. As for my gardening space, it is minimal currently. We have moved into a nice apartment with a balcony, so that is what we got. Due to this fact, I am always looking for new ideas for vertical gardening. I'm mostly growing in plastic pots, 5 and 3 gallon buckets, crates, coffee cans, and basically whatever I can get my hands on that fits on the balcony lol. This is really only my second season growing anything, so yes, I'm a newb. But we all have to start somewhere.