Hello!

Temperatures are starting to drop below 10°C overnight, last night we had our first frost warning. I was ready to let most of my annuals go, however I'm just not ready to say goodbye to these beautiful large impatiens I have. The stalks are as thick as my fingers and the flowers are 3" wide. They're a gorgeous lavender hue. Is it possible to overwinter them indoors? How do I go about it? We don't get much south facing light (my house is on an angle so the sun briefly kisses the office in the morning), but I do have a specialised plant bulb, I just need a better fixture for it to sit in. Do I have to cut the plant back? How many hours of daylight would it require over a Canadian winter? And would I have to fertilize it/feed it compost?

Thank you!

I understand the love for your impatiens but without proper light, they will not be happy indoors.

It would really be so much more fun and enjoyable to harvest seed pods from them right now. You can open them up, harvest the tan seeds. Dry them out on paper towels and store them in a cool dry place. Then next March, about 6 weeks prior to last frost in your area, start the seeds indoors.
The best you can do indoors is over winter plants that will look sickly come next Spring, assuming they survive at all. Then you would plant these ugly survivors outdoors around May 1st.
It would be really nice to put out much better looking seedlings next year that will just take off and look great. Those sickly survivors won't look too good when you put them outside. It will take them a few weeks to look better.
They do reseed themselves in many cases but I do know if you can find enough natural seedlings to meet your needs next year.

Thank you for the advice!
That was definitely my concern, I would hate to see this beautiful plant languish. I've never harvested seeds from impatiens before but I'll certainly look into it. I've never seen this colour before and would love to plant it again.

Good luck!

There's certainly no harm in trying. Worst-case scenario = it gets ugly and you give up and throw it out. Your plant might not enjoy winter inside, but as long as it's still alive in the spring, it should bounce back to being gorgeous when it it gets to go back outside. I've saved these inside for winter and they did not look sickly. I'm planning to do it again this winter.

My stepmother always saves a few impatiens. I am not sure if she does the whole plant, she may, but she definitely takes cuttings. She doesn't use lights but she has sliding glass doors. They do get leggy but bounce back the following year.
I, on the other hand, have not had luck with it.

Blanche ~ I would save them inside with a good lamp with a grow-light bulb, and near a sunny window. Turn the light off during the night.
Also try and get some seeds from them, and take cuttings as well.
The plants that are sown from seed may not be the same color as it is most likely a hybrid, but, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!"

I was halfway considering trying to overwinter New Guiinea impatiens. Is that what this is? Or the other more shade tolerant 'older' type impatiens?

My comments were about I. walleriana. FWIW, I brought several inside and all are still blooming and looking great.

Blanche, did you decide to bring your plant inside? I still have blooms on most of mine. A couple are not in enough light.

I. walleriana is fantastic indoors as long as it's near a window. In the summer we take them for granted but indoors in mid winter they bring so much joy.

That's how I feel. Still have blooms here, inside. Admit I appreciate them more than when they were outside.

Long ago back in the '70s, I had neighbors who had been gardening in Baltimore since before WWII - Victory Gardens had been common for vegetables - and I met Mrs. Waterman when she noticed I was planting a tomato plant in full shade - she couldn't bear to see that poor plant doomed from its first day in our garden, so came over and introduced herself to me and thus began my education as a gardener.

Anyhoo, in winter, small glass jelly jars and vases held impatiens cuttings in water across the middle of each of her windows facing us, and when struck by the sun, they glittered like gems of a rainbow.

Her tiny back garden was a treasure trove of flowers and inspiration.

Nice memory, Karen!