AN OLD favourite and a new addition have been adding glorious colour to my partner’s small patio garden.

While very different in form, both have many attributes in common.

New Guinea impatiens are an annual, when grown outdoors, while the dwarf fuchsia is a perennial.

But both have a number of welcome common features — they are largely trouble-free, showy and bloom all summer.

Unlike their shade-loving busy lizzie cousins, New Guinea impatiens need half a day of full sun and will bloom continuously. And there is no need for dead-heading because the blooms fall off when spent.

They are a great butterfly attractor and flourish if kept moist and given the occasional feed.

Different varieties have either glossy dark green, burgundy, or variegated leaves.

New Guinea impatiens make wonderful container plants but they are also great edging plants or in the front of a border.

My old favourite, the fuchsia, needs much the same care and appreciates being over-wintered under cover and heavily pruned because it blooms on new wood.