Impatiens are popular annual bedding plants, prized for their vibrant, season-long color in shaded garden areas. Gardeners often assume these prolific bloomers are a good source of food for pollinators. The answer depends heavily on the specific variety being grown, as modern cultivars found in most garden centers are often poor pollen and nectar sources due to selective breeding focused on aesthetics rather than ecology.
The Critical Difference Between Impatiens Types
The market is dominated by two main categories: Impatiens walleriana and Impatiens hawkeri hybrids. I. walleriana is the classic, dense-flowering bedding plant, which has returned to popularity due to modern mildew-resistant strains. The second group includes New Guinea Impatiens (I. hawkeri) and hybrids like SunPatiens, which feature larger leaves and flowers. Breeders have favored traits like showier blooms and disease resistance, often unintentionally diminishing the flower’s value to insects. Native species, such as Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), are distinctively different, with tubular flowers known to attract bumblebees and hummingbirds.
Flower Structure and Pollinator Accessibility
The primary reason commercially grown Impatiens are inefficient for bees lies in their specialized flower structure. The flower possesses a long, thin, curved nectar spur, which is a modified sepal designed to hold nectar deep within the flower. This architecture creates a mechanical barrier, making the nectar inaccessible to many common, short-tongued bees, including honeybees and smaller bumblebee species. The flower’s design is instead optimized for long-tongued visitors, such as hawk moths or hummingbirds, which have the necessary reach.
Many hybridized cultivars also lack the strong floral scent that typically attracts bees. Furthermore, some varieties have been bred with “double” flowers. In these doubles, reproductive parts are replaced by extra petals, making pollen and nectar virtually non-existent or completely sealed off.
Shade Garden Alternatives That Attract Bees
Gardeners seeking to support pollinators in shaded areas have alternatives that provide accessible nectar and pollen. Bees prefer plants with open, bell, or spike-shaped flowers because they offer an easy landing platform and shallow access to resources. Selecting varieties known for more open flower shapes will maximize their ecological value.
Shade-Tolerant Pollinator Plants
- Coral Bells (Heuchera) produce airy spikes of small, bell-shaped flowers attractive to bees and hummingbirds.
- Foamflower (Tiarella) offers delicate, bottle-brush spikes of white flowers, providing an early season food source.
- Hostas, while primarily grown for their foliage, also produce lavender or white blooms on tall scapes visited by bumblebees.
- Spotted Deadnettle (Lamium maculatum) and Lungwort (Pulmonaria) offer accessible tubular flowers.
- Hardy Geraniums are also frequented by various bee species.
Incorporating these plants ensures the garden contributes meaningfully to local pollinator health.