By Poppylinda
leicestershire,
United Kingdom 
Last year my boarder of busy lizzies died well before usual,but lasted longer than most i noticed.I have been told there was a disease and not to plant them in same place for 3 years?Does anyone know if this is true as i have limited space and they always looked lovely with light and dark blue lobelia along my north faceing wall.
27 Jan, 2012
Answers
Yes it is true. The problem has got so bad that many suppliers are not selling busy lizzies this year. however, there is a larger version, called New Guinea impatiens that should be OK.
The other possibility is to grow something else - heucheras are perennial, like a shady border, and the leaves come in lots of different colours
27 Jan, 2012
I was going to suggest fibrous rooted begonias too. They stay bright and cheerful in all weathers, though the colour range is more limited than the BLs. I certainly won't be growing any impatiens this year.
27 Jan, 2012
Thanks for all that.I have used begonias before and yes they do work well along my shady wall and last a very long time too, although they are not one of my favorites.I love heucheras Andrewr I have a couple,one i bought from gardeners world last year cost me £5 so i'm afraid it would cost me too much to go along a 35ft wall,but i do plan to get some more probably off our very good market,when he turns up that is.The pics i saw...somewhere???on the GOY site(i,m still finding my way around) are beautiful.
27 Jan, 2012
Go to blogs by Vicky1,Poppy..the last one she did,was
18th January..she is the Heuchera specialist..so this is where you probably saw them..some real beauties on there.:o)
28 Jan, 2012
There is a serious problem with busy lizzies, well, really there are three. The major one is Impatiens Downy Mildew, for which there is no treatment, and that has caused most of the trouble. It's usually present when you buy the plants, but you don't know - greenhouse producers are unable to treat it too. There are also two viruses affecting them, so the advice is not to bother to grow them. You could try producing your own from seed in a heated greenhouse or conservatory, but there's some doubt about whether the downy mildew is already present in the seed anyway.
If you still want to grow impatiens, try the New Guinea hybrid ones - these are resistant to the mildew, but obviously, they have a different growth habit and are more expensive to buy.
If the area where you normally plant them is shady, bedding begonias will do fine there - if its sunny, then your choice of annuals for that area is much wider.
27 Jan, 2012