Why Are My Pansies' Flowers Small?

Peonies known as "Johnny-jump-ups" make good bedding plants.

Small flowers on the pansies in your garden most likely indicate you planted one of the smaller varieties. Just as pansies produce flowers of many different colors, they grow in a range of sizes. They display solid colors, but they also may emerge in bicolor and tricolor patterns called faces.

Johnny-Jump-Ups

Johnny-jump-ups (Viola pedunculata), heirloom pansies, grow tricolor flowers of white, purple and yellow, or lavender, purple and yellow. These cool-weather annuals grow in full or partial sun during spring or fall. Each plant reaches a height of 10 inches and a spread of 6 inches with flowers about an inch across. Johnny-jump-ups are the smallest pansies. They prefer full to partial sun in moist organic soil.

Ultima Morpho Hybrid

The pansy "Ultima Morpho," named for a rare butterfly, displays bicolor flowers of blue and yellow. It resembles the johnny-jump-ups, but the flowers are bigger. This low-growing, compact hybrid reaches 6 inches in height and width. The width of the blooms is about 2 1/2 inches. They grow best in full to partial sun and moist organic soil.

Pansy Flirty Skirts Burgundy

"Flirty Skirts Burgundy" (Viola x wittrockiana), named for its ruffles, grows 2-inch flowers. The burgundy and violet blooms appear earlier in the season than the older pansy varieties. Plant them in spring and fall. In the northern states, they bloom from spring until the first hard frost. The plant grows 6 inches tall and 6 inches wide. They, like other pansies, require moist, organic soil and full or partial sun.

References

• University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension: Pansies