Expert: C.L. Fornari - 10/23/2007

Question
Our bed of impatients has been beautifull all summer. Recently the blooms have been falling off plant by plant, front row to back of the bed.  Plants look very healthy, just no blooms left. Is is an animal because of the way it seems to go fron to back and not sporadic?

Answer
Although birds have been known to take flower petals early in the season to line their nests, I don't know of any other animal that just takes flowers off and I know of no animal that eats impatiens blossoms.

My guess it that the amount of light is changing because the sun's angle is different at this time of year. My impatiens stopped blooming when the sun sank below the trees on the side of my yard.  Although impatiens tolerate a lot of shade, they do not bloom if there is no sun at all.   Is it possible that the shade on this bed has increased front to back? Watch what the light does on this bed for a day, and see if this is right.

If the bed is getting at least three hours of DIRECT sun, write back and we'll brainstorm further.

all the best,
C.l.