Balfafblus

Impatiens

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Balfaflav' (Fanfare Lavender')

Summary: 'Balfafblus' has weaker anthocyanin colouration in the shoot than 'Balfaflav'. 'Balfafblus' has a longer leaf length than 'Balfaflav'. 'Balfafblus' has very weak anthocyanin in the midrib and no anthocyanin in the veins on the lower side of the leaf while 'Balfaflav' has strong anthocyanin. 'Balfafblus' has a larger eye zone on the flower which is white and pink in colour while 'Balfaflav' has a white and red eye zone. 'Balfafblus' has a shorter pedicel length and differs in flower colour from 'Balfaflav'.

Description:

'Balfafblus' has medium to tall plant height and medium to wide plant width. The shoot has weak to medium anthocyanin colouration. The leaf is long to very long in length and narrow to medium in width. The upper side of the leaf blade is dark green in colour and there is no anthocyanin colouration. The lower side of the leaf blade is green in colour between the veins. The midrib on the lower side has very weak anthocyanin and the veins have no anthocyanin. The petiole is very short in length and has very weak anthocyanin on the upper side.

'Balfafblus' has a single flower which is medium to large in diameter. The upper side of the petal is white in colour with a blush of light blue violet and violet secondary colour. The secondary colour is located along the midrib of all petals. There is a medium sized eye zone present which is white and pink in colour. The lower petal has a medium to deep incision and is medium to long in length. The upper petal is broad in width and the lateral petal is broad to very broad in width. The pedicel is medium in length and has weak anthocyanin colouration. The flower spur has no anthocyanin and has weak to medium curvature.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Balfafblus' originated in a controlled breeding program during July 1998, at Cartago, Costa Rica. 'Balfafblus' resulted from the open pollination of the proprietary Impatiens flaccida selection designated N510, characterized by its lilac coloured flowers and mounded, loose habit, with a pool of pollen plants of Impatiens hawkeri F1 hybrid series 'Java'. The initial selection was made in October 1998 and asexual propagation since that time has been through the use of vegetative cuttings.

Tests & Trials: 'Balfafblus' was tested in a polyhouse during the summer of 2005, in St. Thomas, Ontario. The trial included 15 plants of the candidate and reference varieties. Rooted cuttings were transplanted into 15 cm pots on May 9, 2005. All colour measurements were made using the RHS Colour Chart 2001. Measured characteristics were based on ten plant measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Balfafblus' with reference variety 'Balfaflav'

Leaf length (cm)

Colour of upper side of petal (RHS)

Colour of lower side of petal (RHS)

Pedicel length (cm)