Three nights ago, my last surviving pot of impatiens was decimated by some critter. I'm pretty sure it was a groundhog. (Then again, maybe it was a possum. Your question raised that possibility in my mind, because we have those around here, too.) He didn't actually eat them. Just chewed them all off and left them laying on the ground around the pot. Did the job on them halfway the first night. Finished them off the next. grrrrrrr
Mine were in hanging pots & some insect ate them bare to the stem. I threw mine out. Won't be buying them again either...I'm too hot for them to do well!
"The soil is the source of life, creativity, culture and real independence." David Ben-Gurion
I had not read the link that Toots posted on the other thread about impatients so I went back & read it. Mine may well have had this disease that is talked about. But they just don't do well here unless they are in FULL shade & watered often anyway...I don't have that much good shade (lots of dapple) and my flowers need to be able to survive without daily watering.
Mine were clearly chomped on by something with teeth. LOL
I read the thread about the fungus. Too bad. Impatiens has always been my "go to" flower for the porch planter each year, and for a color feature near the birdbaths under the tree.
I'm really not sure what I'll do for the porch planter next year. Nothing gives good color in full shade like impatiens.
