"Rich Heimlich" wrote in message
...
I had some fantastic results with impatens last year using them in nearly
every
flowerbed. They grew early, stayed flowered the entire season and bulked
up
nicely to form a beautiful wall of color and then winter came and, of
course,
they died.

I would like to find a perennial that can come close to the benefits of
the
impatens. For me that means that they'd be in bloom most of the season,
require
little maintenance and fill out solidly. The basic colors are nice as
well.
Whites, reds, etc.

I'm no gardner so this is all pretty new to me. The closest I have come to
this
is a dianthus. I have one I love but it's still very small and I have not
seen
its coloring on any other dianthus.

This is for Southern NJ. I'd go with impatens all the time but to do it
the way
I'd like would require a yearly outlay of roughly $1,500 which is WAY too
much
in my view to spend on annual flowers. The landscaping is already enough
of a
small fortune without that cost.

Can anyone recommend a good solution or am I asking for the impossible?


I think your expectations are a bit high for a single perennial. Most
people plant their perennial borders with a wide variety of plants that
bloom at various times over the growing season. You could start with spring
blooming bulbs and pansies for early color. Then come the spring blooming
trees and shrubs and so on through fall. To that you can add texture and
color with foliage. You can phase it in with some beds being left for
annuals and others converted to perennial beds. It is nearly unimaginable
that a person could spend $1500 on annuals! That would be around 200 flats
with a quantity discount, maybe more.

One solution would be to do nothing. I find that impatiens reseed
themselves pretty reliable. If you don't use Preen, you should see them
return on their own. I'm sure that any reputable landscape firm would be
glad to assist you in planning your beds. I doubt that even few commercial
customers spend $1500 a year on annuals.