PanAmerican Seed New Impatiens Offers Downy Mildew Resistance
February 6, 2019 
Beacon Impatiens Orange (PanAmerican Seed)
PanAmerican Seed has introduced a new series of Impatiens walleriana with high resistance to Impatiens downy mildew. Beacon Impatiens offers season-long performance and brings back fast-filling color to the shade, without the disease risk.
In addition to this product launch, PanAmerican Seed will shine a light on lesser-known charitable causes by donating 3% of Beacon Impatiens’ global sales.
Since the widespread outbreak of Impatiens downy mildew, greenhouse producers have lost revenue due to plant losses during production and poor performance of Impatiens in landscape beds and planters. Many businesses hesitated to stock this key shade-loving flower. Now, through devoted breeding efforts and collaboration that spanned the globe, PanAmerican Seed offers Impatiens downy mildew resistant Beacon, and with it the opportunity to bring back into production this well-known, in-demand, easy-to-grow, and versatile product for increased sales without the risk.
“Beacon Impatiens is truly an effort years in the making. Since the early days of the devastating disease, greenhouses have been waiting for the chance to bring Impatiens back,” says Anne Leventry, President of PanAmerican Seed. “To bring Beacon to market with proven high resistance to Impatiens downy mildew, we are confident that our greenhouse customers, retailers, and gardeners alike will also have the confidence to grow garden Impatiens once more.”
“With a plant structure, flowering time, and flower size that is similar to existing Impatiens series, Beacon is easy to incorporate into production planning,” says Lisa Lacy, Global Product Manager for Beacon Impatiens. “There’s no special plant culture required for Beacon to be successful.”
In the spirit of bringing light — and happiness — back to shade gardens all over the world, PanAmerican Seed will donate portions of its Beacon Impatiens global sales to a less-widely known charitable organization. For the 2020 launch season, PanAmerican Seed will donate 3% of Beacon sales to Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), a genetic bone disorder characterized by fragile bones that break easily, also known as brittle bone disease. It is estimated that approximately 25,000 to 50,000 people in the U.S. alone have OI. The donation will go toward helping The OI Foundation improve the quality of life for those living with osteogenesis imperfecta through research, education, awareness, and mutual support.
“Shining light on OI, a rare disorder, is one way we as a company can put the devastating effects of Impatiens downy mildew behind us and put the next generation of Impatiens to work for others,” says Sean Valk, Global Director of Sales for PanAmerican Seed. “PanAmerican Seed will select a new charity in the 2021 season, and again in subsequent years to do as much good as possible.”
Beacon Impatiens will have its official debut at California Spring Trials in Santa Paula, CA, as well as other industry shows in 2019. There are currently six core colors and two mixes in the series. A limited supply is available now, with full-scale global availability in January 2020.
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