"I’D like to say a few words about impatiens. Nice words, not the usual condescending ones you often hear, like “colorful, but common,” or “perfect for beginners.” They are both, but that doesn’t necessarily make them banal. It is possible to have a garden of cutting-edge plants arranged with such expertise, taste and charm that your neighbor asks if he can bring his cousin, the botany professor who is looking for illustrations for his seventh book, to see your garden, and still grow impatiens — or, rather, stick them in your soil where they will grow themselves. Impatiens would be much more desirable to serious gardeners if they were a bit tricky to grow."