Impatiens are being devastated of downy mildew

[Stray59]

Just found out from my sister (who has an incredibly pale green) that she could not find the annual (in the midwest anyway) Impatiens (walleriana) that have been damp, shady bedding plant staples in this area. A gardener friend told her that all the commercial stock was being devastated by downy mildew. I looked it up and, sure enough, there are very few commercial suppliers that are able to offer the good ole Impatiens in this area. The mildew kills the leaves and you are left will lanky, leafless stems. It is even effecting seedlings, so many of the commercial growers can't even get the plants up big enough to move out of the com-pots.
There is a link you can check for replacement plants that will grow under the same conditions, but you will have to choose another plant until they can get a grip on this mildew crap.
Alternatives to impatiens
Sorry for the bad news -
Steve

[Leafmite]

They are very easy to grow from seed.

---------- Post added at 08:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 AM ----------

I tend to grow perennials now but I used to always grow my flowers from seed each spring. Your sister might have luck finding them at a nursury that grows their own if she doesn't want to wait.

[Stray59]

I am not sure why it is, but they say that even if you grow your own, they will most likely get the mildew and die. This is not an isolated issue - the East coast states and the Midwest is (according to all the posts I've read) obviously riddled with the mildew and even homegrown ones are highly susceptible. I agree they are easy to grow and I may start some for my sister, but this is supposed to be a very wide spread contamination.
Will look into it further, and thanks for the suggestion as I had not really thought of it myself. Will give it a try for her sake. They have even come up volunteer for me in the past, but again, for some reason something seems to have changed in the overall health of the environment or the seed stock or something.
Thanks again for the "jogging of the memory"!
Steve

[Ordphien]

Wow... and to think the nurseries here have so many that they end up throwing most of them out.
I wonder what's causing it.


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