Combination Ideas for Impatiens in a Large Stone Planter

Evergreen Azaleas

• Evergreen azaleas (R. Glen Dale, Kurume) hail from the rhododendron family and contrast well with impatiens, giving your stone planter an Asian feel. Their dark glossy leaves set off the bright blooms of the impatiens. The Kurume hybrid and Glen Dale hybrid offer excellent blooms in showy clusters of small red flowers starting in April till late June. Both hybrids are grown for cold hardiness and abundant blooms. These azalea hybrids prefer well-draining, loamy acid soil and filtered light. If the containers are walkway planters narrow by design, plant the azaleas down the center line in groups of three with a 3-foot break between them and the impatiens grown along either side.

Large Round Planters

• Round large centerpiece stone planters in front yards can be planted with patio trees like a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) in the center with azaleas surrounding the tree in triangular groups of three and then the impatiens on the final outer ring planted in masses. The Japanese maple gives you a dazzling display of bright red leaves in the fall. Or you could plant another patio tree, the Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), which grows to 15 to 25 feet tall. This tree flowers in purple, pink, red and white. Plant an evergreen shrub called Japanese boxwoods (Buxus microphylla japonica) around the small tree in continuous rings with the impatiens in a 2-foot band around the boxwoods. The boxwood grows to 1-foot tall and is accented with impatiens growing in front. Boulders dispersed throughout the planter provide nice accents.

A Serpentine Pattern

• Impatiens grow well with shrubs with dark leaves. For a long, rectangular stone planter along a wall about 3-feet wide, plant three pittosporum (P. tobira wheeleri) in a serpentine pattern interspersed with an iceberg rose, and then three more pittosporum then another rose with the impatiens growing in front. Repeat this pattern to the end of the planter. For a wider planter, put the pittosporum in a triangle shape and add more roses. The evergreen pittosporum bubbles up and grows 4-inch oblong leaves 3 to 4 feet off the ground. This plant prefers full sun and can take cold and heat. The iceberg rose has dark green 3 to 4 inch leaves with beautiful white cascading flowers. Plant the rose in full sun and in well draining soil. The iceberg grows up to 8 feet, giving your wall some height and blooms all year long.