Ball Colegrave is to re-launch impatiens to the UK plant market industry with a new mildew-resistant strain.

New Impatiens ‘Beacon’™, bred by PanAmerican Seed and distributed in the UK by Ball Colegrave, offers high resistance to Plasmopara obducens, the cause of Impatiens downy mildew, which began to devastate the Busy Lizzie market worldwide 10 years ago.

Impatiens ‘Beacon’ promises season-long performance and brings back fast-filling colour to the garden, without the disease risk. Since the widespread outbreak of impatiens downy mildew, many growers and retailers hesitated to stock this key bedding plant and home gardeners have been mourning the loss of a much loved garden favourite.

Now, through devoted breeding efforts and collaboration that has spanned the globe, PanAmerican Seed has developed ‘Beacon’, a new impatiens that is highly resistant to downy mildew.

“Growers, retailers and home gardeners have been waiting for the chance to bring impatiens back…without the risk”, says Sandy Shepherd, Ball Colegrave MD.

“Plant structure, flowering time and flower size is similar to existing Impatiens series, so ‘Beacon’ is easy to incorporate into production planning”, says Stuart Lowen, Ball Colegrave marketing manager. No special plant culture is required.

A donation of a portion of Beacon™ Impatiens global sales will be made to The OI Foundation, a lesser-known charitable organization that sets out to improve the quality of life for those living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), or brittle bone disease, a genetic bone disorder.

Beacon™ Impatiens will have its UK debut at the 2019 Ball Colegrave Summer Showcase (15 July to 2 August).

There are currently six core colours; Bright Red, Coral, Orange, Salmon, Violet Shades, White and a mix in the series. A limited supply is available now, with full availability in January 2020.