Annual bedding
How to grow busy lizzies
Impatiens walleriana
Busy lizzies are tender bedding plants for shade and part shade, planted out in early June once nights stay above 10 °C and flowering until the first frost. They need moist compost at all times and a weekly liquid feed in pots. The decision that matters most is the variety: impatiens downy mildew kills ordinary busy lizzies in most UK summers, so grow a resistant series or New Guinea types.
- Hardiness
- Tender annual
- Position
- Shade to part shade
- Soil
- Moist, fertile, free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- High, wilts fast in dry pots
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting busy lizzies
WhenSow Feb to Mar with heat or buy plugs; plant out Jun; flowers Jun to Oct
Starting off
Sow Feb to Mar on the surface of moist compost at 21 to 24 °C, uncovered, as the fine seed needs light; germination takes 14 to 21 days. Prick out into modules, grow on at 15 °C and plant out only after nights pass 10 °C in early Jun. Plugs bought in Apr are easier.
Spacing and planting
Plant 15 to 20 cm apart in bedding, 30 cm for larger New Guinea types; plant at plug depth. Fine in a 25 cm pot or shaded basket, five per 35 cm basket.
Varieties worth growing
- Imara XDR Series
- Traditional busy lizzie (Impatiens walleriana) bred for high resistance to downy mildew. The safe choice for bedding and baskets in shade.
- Beacon Series
- The other widely sold mildew-resistant walleriana, in a good range of single colours and mixes.
- Divine Series (New Guinea impatiens)
- Seed-raised New Guinea type with larger flowers and darker leaves. New Guinea impatiens are not affected by downy mildew.
- SunPatiens Series
- Vigorous hybrid that takes full sun as well as shade and shrugs off mildew; makes a plant 60 cm across, so needs a big pot.
Busy lizzies month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do. Order seed or plugs of a mildew-resistant series.
- February
Sow on the surface at 21 to 24 °C, uncovered.
- March
Last sowings. Prick out seedlings into modules.
- April
Buy plug plants and pot them on. Grow at about 15 °C, frost-free.
- May
Pot on again if needed. Harden off for the last two weeks.
- June
Plant out in early June once nights are above 10 °C. Water in well.
- July
Start weekly feeding of pots. Trim leggy plants by a third. Check under leaves for mildew.
- August
Feed weekly and water daily in warm weather.
- September
Last feeds. Root cuttings of a favourite plant in water on a windowsill.
- October
Plants die at the first frost. Clear them, and bin rather than compost any that had mildew.
- November
Pot up rooted cuttings and keep them at 15 °C in good light.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding busy lizzies
A moderate feeder that flowers non-stop for four months, almost always in containers where daily watering washes nutrients out. One liquid feed, used weekly, covers it. In beds with compost dug in, very little is needed.
Moderate, steady feeding and constant moisture for non-stop flower.
Feeding plan
Before planting, beds
Garden compost
A 5 cm layer forked into the top 15 cm to hold moisture. No dry fertiliser is needed on ordinary soil.
From 3 to 4 weeks after planting until mid September, pots and baskets
3 to 4 ml per litre of water (30 to 40 ml in a 10 litre can) once a week. The label allows up to 6 ml per litre at every watering; busy lizzies turn leggy on that much.
July and August, beds
3 ml per litre once a fortnight, about 5 litres per square metre, only if growth is pale or flowering slows.
Signs to watch
Yellow older leaves in a pot
Nitrogen washed out by daily watering
A balanced liquid feed fortnightly
Leaves rolled and wilting
Heat and dry roots
Water and move to shade
Few flowers and leggy stems
Too much nitrogen or too much shade
High-potash feed and brighter dappled shade
Pests, diseases and problems
Leaves turn pale and yellow, then drop, leaving bare stems; a fine white coating under the leaves; flowering stops
Impatiens downy mildew, which was first found in the UK in 2003, has been widespread in gardens since 2011 and is spread by airborne spores in damp weather; resting spores stay in the soil
There is no treatment. Pull up affected plants with their roots, bag and bin them, and do not compost. Do not grow ordinary busy lizzies in that soil or compost for at least a year; replant with resistant series, New Guinea impatiens or begonias.
Young plants eaten to stumps soon after planting out
Slugs and snails, which favour damp shade as much as busy lizzies do
Plant out sturdy, well-rooted plants, hand-pick at night for the first fortnight and use nematodes on beds.
Pot plants wilt and die with the compost still moist; roots eaten away
Vine weevil grubs
Use fresh compost every year and water nematodes into containers in late August or early September.
Leaves mottled pale and dull with fine webbing underneath, mainly on plants under glass or on hot, sheltered patios
Glasshouse red spider mite, which thrives in hot, dry air
Move plants to cooler shade, keep them well watered and mist the undersides of the leaves. Under glass, introduce the predatory mite Phytoseiulus.
Seedlings collapse at soil level in the tray
Damping off, caused by soil-borne fungi in wet, crowded, warm conditions
Sow thinly on fresh seed compost in clean trays, water from below with mains water and ventilate as soon as seedlings show.
Sticky leaves and clusters of small insects on shoot tips and buds
Aphids
Rub off by hand or dislodge with a firm spray of water, repeated every few days.
Pruning
Pruning and care
No deadheading needed: it drops spent flowers itself. Trim leggy plants back by a third in Jul for a fresh flush. No staking. Dies at the first frost; a favourite can be overwintered as a softwood cutting rooted in water in Sep on a 15 °C windowsill.
Good to knowBest in shade; keep moist.
Growing busy lizzies in pots
Busy lizzies are among the best plants for containers in shade. Put three in a 25 cm pot or five in a 35 cm basket, in peat-free multipurpose compost, and plant at the same depth as the plug. They wilt quickly when dry and take a day or two to recover, so check daily from June and water whenever the surface feels dry; baskets in a breeze may need it twice a day in hot weather. A north or east wall is ideal. SunPatiens and New Guinea types make much bigger plants, so give them one plant to a 30 cm pot.
Busy lizzies: common questions
Why are my busy lizzies losing their leaves and dying?
The most likely cause is impatiens downy mildew. Leaves yellow and fall within a week or two, leaving bare stems, and there is a fine white growth on the underside of the leaves. It cannot be treated. Remove and bin the plants, avoid ordinary busy lizzies in that soil for at least a year, and switch to resistant series such as Imara XDR or Beacon, or to New Guinea impatiens.
Do busy lizzies grow in full shade?
Yes, busy lizzies flower in full shade better than almost any other summer bedding plant, as long as it is open shade such as a north-facing wall. Under dense trees, where it is dark and dry, they grow leggy and flower less. Dappled shade or morning sun gives the most flowers.
Do busy lizzies come back every year?
No, in UK gardens busy lizzies are grown as annuals because the first frost kills them. They are tender perennials by nature, so you can keep a favourite going by rooting cuttings in water in September and growing them on a warm windowsill over winter, then planting out the following June.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.