Yeah, impatiens will self sow. I remember growing some in California, and when the seed heads ripen, they pop with the slightest touch, and the seeds go flying. They were fun. I think they call them "touch-me-nots" because of that!

And, I think your columbines will ALL survive the Winter, Alice.

I've had lots of nice columbines over the years but something seems to go wrong with them when they decide to volunteer - the nice colors just disappear & I'm only left with chartreuse.

digitS'

Rats on the columbines digitS! One of the plants that bloomed this spring was this petite plant with purple and white double ruffled flower. I'd never seen anything like it. I was hoping that I would get more of those.

Do you think I can overwinter the impatiens indoors? Or am I being too frugal? Probably... I'm not even sure where I'm going to put some of the other stuff I'm bringing indoors.

OOH! I just had a great idea. My friend across the street is moving (splitting up with her significant other). She took me over to her new house to be yesterday and she has a big south facing sunroom. Maybe she would want to babysit my geraniums this winter!

Don't give up on the columbines - my volunteers always bloom pretty colors. Purple,lavender, red, red with yellow centers. Never seen chartreuse. I've got pictures somewhere. I don't know which are the originals and which are the volunteers anymore.

I gave Sky a LOT of seed from these that I hope found a home.

This is a volunteer:

Omigosh, that's beautiful!!

I'll keep my fingers crossed and let everyone of those babies bloom!

The impatiens seedlings may not come true to their parent's form, either. It's a bit of an experiment any time you let flowers self sow, which is part of the fun, don't you think?

I overwintered an annual geranium (pelargonium) in my basement by a south window last winter, and then I made cuttings from it for all my spring planting needs. It worked out very well. I have heard that you can actually dry out the geranium roots and store them in a cool, dark place, and basically treat them like tender summer bulbs -- just plant the root in the spring. But I've never tried this. If you're interested in doing it, try a google search on drying geranium roots.

By the way, the cuttings from the live plant rooted EXTREMELY easily. Much more so than any other flower I've ever tried. You're not even supposed to cover them to hold in moisture, because that can make them rot, and on anything else I've rooted from cuttings, I had to cover them and really baby them to get roots.

That's a volunteer!! Never, ever had nice, dark colors. Just need to pamper the parents into their old age.

You didn't say if those are European columbines, Alice. I've got a couple of plants crowded right up to the lawn and they must be hard to kill because I've never cared much for the "granny bonnets" - plant must be tuff but the flowers don't last worth a darn. Don't know about self-sowing, I guess I've never noticed.

The Mckenna Giants and Music Hybrids have always just bloomed chartreuse in the 2nd generation. I can leave the plants and they are robust and the color isn't terrible  sometimes a little darker, sometimes a little lighter.

digitS'

Digit, I don't know anything about columbines really. I did a little searching on the internet and think mine might be a Barlow type. At least that's the closest I could get searching for "double, ruffled". As I remember, they were smallish plants, with all the flowers coming off of one or two stems...kind of in a radius around the stem.

They are columbines that came under the fence from my neighbors. I've harvested all kinds of wonderful stuff from this location and moved to other parts of the yard.

Out front there are some of the traditional "granny bonnets" volunteers as you called them. They are kind of boring, but when you're just starting, I'm glad for any help I get in populating the garden!