B&Q's Bursting Busy Lizzie Garden

Busy lizzies disappeared from garden centres in 2012 after the widespread “Impatiens Downy Mildew” disease hit the UK and Europe. Since then, B&Q has been working exclusively with Syngenta Flowers to create a new variety of Imara Bizzie Lizzies that are more resistant to downy mildew than ever before. The name ‘Imara’ means ‘strong & resilient’ in Swahili, a tribute to the region in East Africa where the original busy lizzies are from.

The colourful plants are also known as ‘impatiens’, meaning ‘impatient’, which refers to the way the plant’s seed head bursts open. Visitors can expect B&Q’s garden to be bursting with busy lizzies planted in a contemporary style that will challenge perceptions of them being traditional annual bedding plant.

Dubbed by Matthew and B&Q as the ‘ultimate feel good outdoor space’, the ‘B&Q Bursting Busy Lizzie Garden’ is inspired by the insight that gardens are the sweet spot of British home happiness. New research from B&Q polled 2,000 UK homeowners to find that 86 per cent of us feel immediately happier after doing an outdoor project and 55 per cent enjoy their space much more afterwards. When asked which elements of their outdoor space gave them the biggest emotional payback, people identified that having space to relax (65 per cent), colourful flowers (48 per cent), cultivating plants (45 per cent), and entertaining outdoors (33 per cent) all held the most happiness potential.

The show garden reflects the feel good power of our gardens by showcasing inspirational, multifunctional outdoor spaces using affordable products from B&Q. 

The influence of colour will also be brought to life through the vibrancy of the Imara Bizzie Lizzies that comes in six bright shades.

Other plants in this garden

Vitis coignetiae	Trachycarpus fortunei	Fatsia japonica
Asplenium trichomanes	Clematis armandii	Osmunda regalis
Polystichum setiferum 'Herrenhausen'	Aucuba japonica 'Crotonifolia'	Chamaerops humilis
Blechnum spicant	Hosta 'Sum and Substance'	Polystichum polyblepharum
Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis 'Sunburst'	Cornus canadensis	Mahonia lomariifolia
Musa basjoo	Epimedium x rubrum	Eriobotrya japonica
Rodgersia podophylla	Muehlenbeckia complexa	Hosta 'June'
Asarum europaeum	Osmunda regalis 'Purpurascens'	Hosta 'Krossa Regal'
Hosta 'Devon Green'	Rodgersia sambucifolia	Hedychium gardnerianum
Sorbaria sorbifolia 'Sem'	Dryopteris cycadina	Hosta 'Guacamole'
Athyrium filix-femina 'Frizelliae'	Gunnera magellanica	Hakonechloa macra
Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress'	Phaenosperma globosa	Ficus carica
Euphorbia oblongata	Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'	Rodgersia podophylla 'Braunlaub'