pansies and impatiens are not blooming, just green

[busymama77]

We're in the midwest and I planted the pansies back at the end of April and the impatiens just two weeks ago. All I see is green. We mixed the soil with fertilzer and still nothing. We have other bushes, trees in the general vicinity of these flowers - could it be that the roots from these other plants and trees are just taking over??

Also, these are planted in an area that gets the most sunlight so that shouldn't be a problem either. I'm just stumped AND frustrated!! I'm thinking of ripping them out and plant perennials!!!

[cschick]

Originally Posted by busymama77

We're in the midwest and I planted the pansies back at the end of April and the impatiens just two weeks ago. All I see is green. We mixed the soil with fertilzer and still nothing. We have other bushes, trees in the general vicinity of these flowers - could it be that the roots from these other plants and trees are just taking over??

Also, these are planted in an area that gets the most sunlight so that shouldn't be a problem either. I'm just stumped AND frustrated!! I'm thinking of ripping them out and plant perennials!!!

Impatiens are shade annuals and if planted in a part-sun area should be in sun less than half the day. (New Guinea impatiens can stand a bit more sun, but if you bought a flat you probably got standards impatiens. NG impatiens are a lot more expensive and not generally sold in flats--I spent $16 for 6 plants last weekend.)

Pansies are cool weather (spring/fall) plants and stop blooming when it gets too hot. If you're experiencing daytime highs above 75 and they're in the sun, they probably won't bloom unless you manage to keep them alive until fall. I'm in the midwest (Chicago area) and the gardeners who do pansies around here usually buy already-blooming plants the first week of April or so and plant them, then tear them out by Memorial Day.

[cschick]

If you want sun annuals, I'd recommend petunias, snapdragons, these little blue flowers called "Blue Moon" (can't remember their other name), marigolds--go to a local nursery, not Home Depot or Menards, and ask what annuals do best in the sun in the standard summer weather in your area. (You can get them at HD or Menards after, but at least around here the little nurserys are actually proving to be cheaper this year. Check number of plants per flat. HD was doing 24 plant flats for $11, my local nursery 48 plant flats for $16.)

[busymama77]

Thanks for the tips!! It's been well over 80 degrees here in Missouri so that would explain a lot!!

I'll be making a trip to our local nusery this weekend.