Information on Pansies

A blooming pansy

The most popular pansy variety is the Viola tricolor, which displays three different vivid colors of red, blue, apricot, deep yellow, white and velvety black. Pansies are cool weather perennials, meaning their life cycle can last from a few years to several years. Pansies do need to be protected during the winter months to survive. Pansy seeds can be germinated in a protected outside covering during the winter, inside a cold room, or in a cold frame for healthy blooms in the spring. Pansies are ideal as decorative rock garden flowers.

Planting Seeds

Preparation of soil is an important factor in planting pansy seeds.

In North America, plant fresh, plump pansy seeds when the weather turns cool in October or November for flowering plants in April or May. Prepare the soil with plenty of humus, well-rotted manure or peat moss mixed with potting soil. Sift the mixture through a mesh screen into flatbeds or pots. Level and slightly firm the soil. Sprinkle the seed over the surface and cover the seeds with 1/8 inch of soil. Give full sun to seedlings except during the hottest part of the day.

Germinating

Sow pansy seeds indoors or in a protected area during winter months.

Select a cool spot under 45 degrees Fahrenheit for the germinating seeds. An outdoor cold frame is ideal for pansy seeds. Transplant the seedlings to larger containers when the second set of leaves appear. Plant the pansies outside as soon as the soil can be worked. Pansies are not affected by the frosts of early spring. They will bloom almost immediately if they were started in a cold frame or indoors in October or November.

Winter Mulch

Spruce branches are used to make winter mulch for pansies.

Cover pansies with winter mulch composed of spruce branches, pine branches, straw or hay held down with chicken wire. This mulch protects the pansies from the winter weather and prevents mice and rabbits from eating the wintering plants. Cover the pansies when the ground is frozen an inch or two below the surface. Remove winter covering when freezing is past. Do this on a cloudy, overcast day so the pansies are not shocked by the sunshine.

Winter Cold Frame

Cold frames are ideal for protecting pansies during the winter.

Pansies can be dug up and placed in a closed cold frame for the winter. Transplant the pansy plants into a cold frame that has side boards at least 1 foot high. The glass top cover of the cold frame closes at a slant for drainage and allows the winter sun to keep the soil inside the cold frame from freezing too deeply.

Open the cold frame cover for ventilation around the beginning of March. Replant the pansies into their permanent location in early April in cool, moist, well-drained soil.

Pansy Problems

Healthy pansies need room to grow.

Plant the pansies in the cool weather of spring to early summer. Pansy plants deteriorate in the heat, preventing healthy blooms and drying out the plant.
Elongated stems and small flowers are caused by too much shade or overcrowding. Pansies thrive in partial sun and moist soil. Separate the pansies to 6 inches apart on all sides, allowing growth of the blooms and leaves.

References

• "Ten Thousand Garden Questions"; Marjorie Dietz; 1994
• "Color Dictionary of Flowers and Plants"; Roy Hay and Patrick Synge; 2001
• Aggie Horticulture: Pansy

Resources

• PansyFlowers.com: Pansy Flowers