Busy Lizzies

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Does anybody remember the old Impatiens Sultani, the old Busy Lizzie that used to grow tall & lanky with almost leafless stems with just a “crown” of leaves & flowers at the top? It used to exist in practically every house in the country – or so it seemed! As universal &, almost, as indestructible as Mother-in-law’s tongue! I haven’t seen a plant of that for donkey’s years! I used to fill our windowsills with the plant when I was a teenager! I used to find myself forever cutting them back to encourage them to flower from lower down & to get rid of the dreaded red spider mite!

Now we have the most beautiful plants you could hope for, you can buy a little plastic box, just like a mini greenhouse, in any supermarket with a dozen tiny plants that will grow & flower for at least 6 months & all for a couple of quid!

I love them for their exuberant flowers & versatility! :)

Here are some Busy Lizzie plugs that I transplanted into small black pots,15 of which fit in a seed tray.

Here is a photo of the same Busy Lizzie plugs above but about 3 weeks later.

This photo is of a Busy Lizzie which we had growing on our kitchen table for some months during 2007. This photo was taken in May.

Being such versatile plants you can grow them as pot plants, like the one above, in hanging baskets, in wall pouches or as bedding plants.

Here is a photo of a double red Busy Lizzie at very close quarters! I took this photo in July last year.

I really loved this lavender coloured double Busy Lizzie growing in a wall pouch back in August, 2005.

Here you can see some Busy Lizzies I had put in 12.5 cm pots. I think they stayed there all summer till the autumn frosts but I don’t remember now as this photo is from July 2005.

This year I plan on buying some more Busy Lizzies to grow in the pouches on the walls at both ends of the balcony. Like the 3 below

This is what a fully grown wall pouch looks like when you have a dozen plants filling it up! Spectacular!!!

This is what a pouch looks like while the plants are settling in & haven’t filled it as yet. Still pretty.

As they are frost tender you can’t put them outside before May so I start them off in small square pots, see above, then I put them in the pouches which I have to grow indoors for a couple of months before hanging them on the balcony walls.

• 10 Apr, 2009
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