Scarlet Impatiens (Impatiens walleriana) - red flowers, illustrated plant cardIllustration

Scarlet Impatiens

Impatiens walleriana

Scarlet Impatiens blooms from May through October.

Bloom calendar
Bloom time
May–Oct
not yet checked
Hardiness
Annual (replant yearly)
not yet checked
Sun
Full shade
not yet checked
Water
High water
not yet checked
Mature size
12 in × 12 in
not yet checked
Type
Annual
house classification

Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.

Growing Scarlet Impatiens

Plant it in full shade. It prefers high water. Expect it to reach about 12 in tall and 12 in wide at maturity, in roughly 1 year (not yet checked).

No toxicity note is on file for Scarlet Impatiens. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.

Verification
What this means

Written with AI assistance and not yet checked plant by plant against recorded sources, so treat every fact above as a starting point. Its scientific name was checked against botanical registries, an audit keeps its values consistent with the rest of the library, and a July 2026 review re-read the main facts of every plant then in the library against horticultural authorities without recording a source for each, which is why none of that counts as checked here. The source-by-source check is working through the whole library in the open, and a checked plant says so in this row.

When to plant Scarlet Impatiens

Wait until all danger of frost has passed, then plant out Scarlet Impatiens into warm soil; in most zones that means late spring. Planted then, it flowers from May to October.

Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.

How big does Scarlet Impatiens get?

Illustration of Scarlet Impatiens drawn to scale beside an adult12 intall5 ft 7 inan adult12 inwide
About 12 in tall and 12 in wide at maturity: shin-high beside an adult.

See Scarlet Impatiens in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.

How far apart to plant Scarlet Impatiens

Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.

Space Scarlet Impatiens about 12 in apart, center to center, so each plant has room to reach its full width.

Plant them
12 in apart
Per 10 sq ft
about 10
4 by 8 ft bed
about 32

Add Scarlet Impatiens to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.

The Impatiens group

One of 12 in the Impatiens group. Same genus, similar care.

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Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.

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