The Garden Guy worked hard last week getting the Sopranos planted before the arrival of much needed rain. If you are not familiar with Sopranos, they are a group of six colors of impatiens that have put pure joy back into the shade garden.

In music, sopranos are those with angelic voices. High-pitched voices that can bring about a standing ovation. In this case it’s not with sound but by floral beauty via their colors: bright red, orange, salmon, rose, violet shades and white.

The Sopranos also have an analogy with their Uncle Tony. While they perhaps aren’t mob boss-like, they are tough and persevering. While lantanas are ruling the parched, sunlit areas of the landscape, the Soprano impatiens are lighting up the forest floor with color that will last until the first freeze.

The Sopranos also bring a new disease resistance to America’s favorite shade flower. They will reach 15 inches tall and almost as wide. Fertile well-drained soil is ideal. In the South we plant them in the shade. This shade, provided by tall trees, means competition for water, so other than providing the necessary moisture, they are easy to grow.

So, this year I lined both sides of a hillside gravel and stone path with Soprano Orange impatiens. There were already colorful foliage partners like hostas, Rockin Golden Delicious salvia and the golden yellow leafed anise shrubs. I gave them even more foliage by adding about 30 Heart to Heart Lemon Blush caladiums. These bulbs will surprise me when suddenly, they make a grand entrance.

In an adjacent area also with a steep slope, I chose Soprano Red impatiens to wind through Shadowland Coast to Coast hostas with chartreuse foliage and the new Shadowland Love Story hostas that are not only huge, but feature showy variegation.

Hostas and impatiens have a strong attraction for combo together that should always be a first consideration. That's the reason I will always want Soprano impatiens to play a partnership role with the Shadowland Autumn Frost hosta that may be my all-time favorite.

There is one other companion that you simply cannot overlook and that is hydrangeas. These are primarily blue flowers in my area, so all colors of Soprano impatiens go with the mophead or Hydrangea macrophylla varieties and the Mountain Hydrangea serrata varieties.

While I planted Soprano impatiens in single colors this year, it is sheer magic when you combine them together. There is almost no combination by which you might put them together that the partnership would not work. Orange, Bright Red and Salmon together look like a Santa Fe mix. Add violet shades and you have Carnival in Rio.

Nowhere have I found reference to pollinators going to Soprano impatiens. I’m even afraid to say that. On the other hand, I have photos of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtails and yellow Sulphur butterflies on the Soprano blooms.

If you have found yourself longing for color in the shady areas of the landscape, then Soprano impatiens will make your dreams come true.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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