Keriann, Thank you! I am a bit confused, because this spot faces east and would get morning sun (8-noon/1:00) That would be too much for the doubles? I really have my heart set on the superbells... You do think they'd be ok there? Yippee! My planters are big (1 ft. wide by 6 foot long.) I have 2 two foot rectangular liners inside each one. How many superbell plants would you put in each 2 foot liner? I'm clearly very new at this, and quite honestly this first year I'd rather keep things as simple as possible. Do you think filling them with all superbells (no filler, spiller, thriller combo) would be alright? Or do I need something with height to go along with the superbells? If so, would regular impatiens or New Guinea's work? Do I really need them? Thank you for the tip on the calibrachoa foliage! I will be sure to water right down into the soil

Armstrong Garden Center has them here in my area. I should add that, in my previous post, the link had a picture with variegated leaves that are not quite what mine look like. I found another picture on the Ecke website. Attached is a picture that is more consistent with the ones I found. I noticed there is an "Improved Orange". Maybe the ones I purchased are the original version? I don't have 100% confidence in the labelling at Armstrong; the label on my plants said "Painted Paradise Red" - not orange. Also, there were some that were labelled as being the "Painted Paradise Lavender", the color I am currently trying to find. However, the flowers were definately not as blue as the picture below shows. In person they were much further along towards the pink side of the spectrum, like the ones they refer to as "lilac". In that case, I find the variegation along with the blooms, that are really a hot pink or magenta, to be just a bit too much color contrast for my eyes. Sorry about the earlier misleading post with the picture that doesn't agree with what I found. However, if there's some out there that do look like that, I would really like to get my hands on them. Here's a picture of the orange that pretty much agrees with what I found. Here's the picture of lavender. Chris

Patience is a very important quality in a gardner. Fertilizer should not be used unless it is really and truly required by the plant. For flowering plants, it is a good idea to be extremely conservative with high N fertilizers and use the high P products. You have no idea of the seeding sequence of the red and white flowers that you purchased....they may have been started weeks behind the others. The white ones will begin to bud and bloom as long as you haven't put so much N (nitrogen) to them that all they want to do is grow new leaves! Since this is your first gardening experience, I assume that you don't know how to decipher the fertilizer analysis on your product? What are the 3 numbers on your container of Miracle Gro? 20-20-20?

I live in New Zealand and have fought a real battle to grow these plants. We are equvalent to US zone 9, temperate climate. They are susceptible to sudden collapse and root rot, as well as botrytis. They flower like mad if kept slightly pot bound and exposed to lots of direct morning sun. Be careful though as too pot bound impedes drainage and very quickly causes stem rot in these plants. The key seems to be lots of water but with excellent drainage and drier when it is cool. Fallen leaves and flowers causes botrytis almost overnight, so keep the plant clean. A systemic fungicide solved my problems with the Guinea Impatiens and the wilt or sudden collapse problems. Our southern hemisphere midday+ sun is much to bright for them in summer, so they are kept partially shaded in afternoons. They won't flower in full shade, get leggy and eventually collapse. They love misty fine rain in our hot/dry summer and lots of water. I water mine with tepid-warm water like you do with African violets, so as not to shock the plant with sudden cold. Our winters can be rather cold and very wet, so I keep them indoors but fairly close to a window with sun/lots of light and reasonably dry, but never arid to the point where they wilt. I had two 3-year old plants in buckets which flowered beautifully and were fairy large, but they were hit by a rogue frost, albiet a light one and died virtually that day. Each colour of the Guinea Impatiens seems to have different hardiness. The purple colour is by far the strongest and easiest to grow in my opinion, while I find red and white more difficult. Pink is also easy to flower, big blooms but a much smaller plant. Odd eh. Even with failures, I keep buying these plants because they are just so lovely.