Hi,

I've got a couple of beds of impatiens, flanking the entrance to my back deck. On one side, I have found four or five plants where the branching stems have rotted off the middle stem, one by one until the whole plant dies.

Where these plants are dying, I find mushrooms growing. They are not all over the area, but only where these plants have died. Can mushrooms kill impatiens?

We've had a horrific drought at the beginning of the summer, with a two-week reprieve during the first two or three weeks of July, then back to the dreaded drought. We've also had above 100 degree temps, along with above 100 degree heat indexes for several days in a row with only a day or two that didn't reach those highs in between.

I've watered on my watering days, three days a week, but it hasn't helped those plants. On the other side of the entrance, the plants are still gorgeous!

What could be causing this?

Here's my impatiens. The side that is shown well is the one that does not have the dying plants:

Thanks for any help!

Beverly