Botanical Name: Impatiens × hybrida ‘SunPatiens® Purple Candy’ Common Name: SunPatiens, Sun Impatiens Hardiness Zone: Grown as an Annual in All Climates Size: 18–30" Tall × 18–30" Spread Growth Habit: Vigorous, Mounded, Well-Branched Habit Sunlight: Full Sun to Partial Shade Soil: Well-Drained, Fertile Soil Water Needs: Moderate; More Drought Tolerant Than Traditional Impatiens Bloom Season: Late Spring through Frost Fertilizer: Light, Regular Feeding for Best Performance Features: Deep Purple Blooms with Lighter Center, Exceptional Sun & Heat Tolerance, Nonstop Flowering, Disease Resistant Uses: Landscape Beds, Mass Plantings, Large Containers, High-Heat Areas

Patent: ✔ Patented Propagation: ❌ Propagation Prohibited Without License

More About SunPatiens® ‘Purple Candy’

SunPatiens® ‘Purple Candy’ produces rich, saturated purple flowers highlighted by a lighter central eye, creating strong contrast and depth. The color remains vibrant even in intense sun and summer heat, where many purple-flowering annuals tend to fade. This variety belongs to the Vigorous SunPatiens® group, meaning it grows larger and fills space quickly, making it ideal for wide landscape beds and bold mass plantings.

Why We Like It (Our Trials)

In our trials, ‘Purple Candy’ has been a high-impact, low-maintenance performer, thriving through heat, humidity, heavy rain, and brief dry spells. It blooms continuously without deadheading and maintains strong foliage health thanks to excellent resistance to impatiens downy mildew. We especially appreciate its landscape power. Few annuals can deliver this level of color saturation and coverage over such a long season.

Compact Purple Candy vs. Other SunPatiens®

Compact Purple Candy offers a cooler, more sophisticated tone than the warmer pinks and reds in the Compact Series, bringing a sense of restraint and polish to plantings. Compared to Hot Pink, it feels calmer and more composed, making it especially effective in shaded areas or layered mixed palettes. It provides stronger contrast against silver or chartreuse foliage than Tropical Rose or Compact White, giving combinations a distinctly upscale, designer-driven look. 

While it doesn’t shout like Electric Orange or Compact Fire Red, it adds depth and richness that keeps containers from feeling flat or overly bright. In side-by-side plantings with Tropical Rose, Purple Candy reads cooler and more modern, while Tropical Rose feels warmer and softer. Purple Candy pairs especially well with Compact White, where the contrast feels intentional rather than bold. This is the Compact SunPatiens we rely on when elegance, balance, and tonal depth matter more than raw intensity.