Where Did All the Impatiens Go?

The common impatiens, which grows easily even in shady spots and blooms colorfully over a long season, has long been a favorite bedding plant of many Bay Area gardeners.

But no longer — many nurseries, including Grand Lake Ace Garden Center, have stopped carrying it and existing plants have even been removed from Piedmont's parks, according to an article published Friday on sfgate.com.

The culprit is impatiens downy mildew, an aggressive disease that has plagued East Coast gardens since 2004 but showed up in Northern California for the first time this year, the article says.

Gardening writer Pam Pierce says that a reader's tip led her to an infected plant in a private Piedmont garden, and the disease was confirmed by a state Department of Food and Agriculture lab.

It's also been reported in Lafayette, Atherton, Stockton and Sacramento, she writes.

Mark Feldkamp, Piedmont's parks manager, told Pierce that all impatiens were removed from the city's parks and public spaces a few weeks ago. 

The disease spreads easily to nearby plantings, and there's no pesticide available for home use that can control it, Pierce says.

You may read the complete and detailed sfgate.com article here.

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