White with blue-toned lilac shades look good together. Anything more orangey wouldn't work with that mix, in my opinion. And I find the bright red ones really hard to combine with anything. Having said that, a couple of years ago I grew some Impatiens 'Super Elfin Sunrise' from seed, and they turned out to be a stunning bicolor - an unpromising-sounding hot pink blended with an orangey centre. I can't seem to find seed from them anymore though.

Thank you, ornata. A white/lilac shade combo sounds very nice. I think whatever I chose, I'll most likely include white since it does brighten up the shady areas nicely.

Isn't it always the way, when you grow a plant from seed that you turn out to really like, you can't find the seed again! Happened to me this year with a double pink wax begonia that I grew from seed last year.

Thanks again :)

I am usually very fussy with my impatiens combinations....using lipstick as the base and then white and a deeper maroon....but recently I saw the porch/veranda or a very elegant 1905 Spanish revival house....with terra cotta quarry tiles and huge terra cotta pots of impatiens....and all colors were mixed....pink, coral lavandar red maroon etc......and it was wonderful!!
But I still do the pink, red and white.....
Linda C

I usually do lilac and white. A soft pink also looks good mixed in with the lilac and white.

If I use a strong color, I like to add a some white in (say, 3 colored plants to 1 white plant). I think it looks snazzier with a little white thrown in.

"I am usually very fussy with my impatiens combinations"

My kinda gardener... being on the fussy side, myself (lol). I'm writing down all of these combinations, and I'll take them with me to the nursery, and try them out with the different colours there. Sounds like you can't go wrong, really.

mxk, it seems like the consensus is to use white with the other colours - I agree that it does snazz things up. I saw a combo with hot pink included with the white and lilac... which looked really nice, too.

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

I like pink,lavender,salmon and white together.

Thanks lizh, that sounds like a nice pastel combo. I planted my impatiens a week, or so, ago - I went with a lipstick, lilac, cranberry, and white combination.

The reason I added the cranberry in there was because it's more of a maroonish red than a bright red colour. I needed that red colour to tie in with the red fibrous begonias that I'm planting in the sunnier spots that the impatiens can't take. Well, maybe I didn't *have* to tie in the colours, but I'm kind of fussy. lol. So far, so good.

OMG - you guys wouldn't like my combo - lol - I usually by a flat of MIXED and then just plant it out in a semi circle wooded area - to me it is wild, bold and beautiful - I do however plan the colors for the hanging baskets on the front porch - usually shades of pink/white and rose.....

Lynne

I always grow impatiens in my shady corner too and in keeping with the rest of my garden I stay to the cranberry, rose colors; deeper and paler pinks and white. I mix them intermitantly and nearby where there is more sun I use wave petunias in rose pink and white.

Together they are a stand out and "mound" beautifully.

Allison

Your colour combinations sound lovely, Allison. I didn't even know there was cranberry coloured impatiens until this year. My impatiens are just starting to go into 'mounding' mode, and I'm very happy with them so far. I haven't had to worry about keeping them watered because we're getting lots of rain right now. I'm actually worried about everything getting overwatered - but what can you do?

{{gwi:5656}}
There is more variety than you can tell from this picture but I still wanted to share. These are coming back from seed again this year.

I saw a picture of Paris Hilton's house in the Hamptons. (Usually I pay no attention to celebrities.) But this one caught my eye. Her gardner had planted bright orange, bright magenta, and pastel apricot impatiens in these long drifts that went on for hundreds of feet. I didn't think I'd like that combination, but it was quite stunning.

Lainey

Gypseaflower, I must have missed this - thanks for posting your photo. Very nice! Do you mean your impatiens actually self-sowed?

Lainey, Actually that combination does sound very eye-catching. I didn't put in any orangey colours at all. I should experiment more.

We've been getting so much rain, that the ground is sopping wet, and I haven't been able to finish planting everything. Surprisingly, my impatiens that are already planted don't seem to mind the constant rain; but my fibrous begonias have rotted. I have to plant replacements, but will have to wait for the soil to dry out a bit first.