Which of the Catharanthus did you grow? I agree that they can be terrific plants.

The trick with New Guinea impatiens, in my experience, is to locate them in a spot that receives full sun all morning but is protected in the afternoon. I plant some against my east facing back wall which faces the morning sun until it rises high enough for the house overhang to shield it. Even in the Alabama heat, it gets cooler and cooler back there the longer it sits in the shade.

The SunPatiens® value is its resistance to impatiens downy mildew. Considering that scientists all over the world have been working on this for over twenty years, I'd say that the first to break the code deserves to charge a premium price.

As other research universities and plant breeders are successful and able to introduce their own resistant varieties to the marketplace, the price will go down.

I don't have the slightest idea which vinca it was....I was a kid in a candy store at the nursery this spring, picking out things that were foreign to me since IMPW was always my go to bedding. I really liked my experience with the vinca's as not only will I not be on Water Watch, but now I can plant them in bulb sections and not be worried about bulb rot.

This year, some of my beds did not look that great, but this was moreso me experimenting with unknown plant characteristics like the New Guinea's. Their stalks are like cucumbers - crissp..I was teaching my 3 1/2 year old scooting around with the bike and one slight brush against the stalk, and the main stem just snapped right off ;0(

I even made it a point to look at other plants beds as I drove around this year.....looks like many have resorted to the larger taller landscape begonia's. From afar, they look great - personally, not a fan of the foliage.