Impatiens hawkeri, commonly called New Guinea impatiens, is a very popular bedding plant in the U.S. today. It is a broadly defined species that is native to New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and New Ireland.
It was first collected by Lt. Hawker (hence the specific epithet) in Papua, New Guinea in 1884, but was not introduced into the U.S. until the early 1970s. New Guinea impatiens for the most part features larger plants, larger flowers and better performance in part shade areas than the popular standard impatiens (Impatiens walleriana).
They are commonly grown in part shade to shade areas, with little tolerance for full sun. Leaves are in whorls of 3 to 7 leaflets. Oval to elliptic leaflets (2-4" long) are dark green to bronze to variegated. Flattened 5-petaled flowers come in a variety of colors including white, pink, orange, red, violet, and purple.
Plants typically grow to 6-18" tall. Flowering is non-stop from May to October. New Guinea impatiens have now been developed into a huge number of different cultivars some of which have been introduced as part of named series.