Flipping through the spring catalog sent by my old friends at
Rush Street Growers in Wisconsin, I was stopped short by a
reference to impatiens, specifically Fusion, a variety that has
achieved huge popularity for its distinctively orchid-like
flowers.  Over the years, I came to rely on this delightful
shade-tolerant annual to illuminate dark corners and brighten
hanging baskets. Unlike the opaque whites, pinks, purples, reds
and oranges of the impatiens planted in masses wherever a splash
of color is needed, Fusion comes in a range of soft and subtle
shades -- ivory instead of flat white, coral instead of orange,
pale yellow instead of ... well, the common impatiens has no
yellow at all.  My love affair with Fusion came to a stormy end
two summers ago. I had used it lavishly and was dismayed when it
began to wither about July 1. Within two weeks, it was reduced
to brittle sticks. Had some rodent chewed its roots? Had I
forgotten to water?  Then I read about a link between impatiens
and a blight called downy