How to Plant Pansies in Containers

Pansies are available in a myriad of colors to compliment your garden area.

Pansies love the cool temperatures of early spring and the fall, but summer temperatures of 75 degrees Fahrenheit or more cause the plants to stop flowering. Pansies are generally grown as an annual in the garden. The flowers are edible and retain their fresh faces when cut for colorful salads or for flower arrangements. You can plant pansies in containers, and the five-petaled beauties will thrive in direct sunlight during the cooler days of spring. To prolong the blooms, dead-head the spent flowers, and move the container to a shady area when temperatures start rising during the summer.

Things You'll Need

• 9- to 12-inch deep container
• Quality potting soil
• Compost or well-rotted manure
• Distilled water
• Loose gravel
• Pansies
• Organic mulch

Instructions

1. Mix potting soil with compost or manure in a ratio of 1:1, and dampen the mixture with distilled water. Container plants depend on you to supply their nutrients, and the compost or fertilizer does that for you. The distilled water contains no chemicals, such as salt or fluoride, that many wells and city water systems may contain.

2. Add 2 inches of loose gravel to the bottom of the container. This helps the water drain so the roots of the pansies do not become water-logged. Fill the container with the soil mixture, leaving a 2-inch space from the soil line to the container rim.

3. Select pansies that are barely budding for your container. The plant must establish a healthy root system and needs the nutrients to build the roots instead of for flowering. Once the root system grows, the pansies will start producing vibrant, healthy blooms.

4. Water the pansies prior to transplanting. Allow the flowers to sit until the excess water drains from the soil. Moist roots cause less stress when repotting the flowers. Transplant the pansies into the container at the same depth they were grown in the nursery container.

5. Add a layer of mulch to the container to keep the soil moist and cool for the pansies. The mulch will take up the last 2 inches of space in the container. Use an organic mulch so that when you water the pansies no chemicals leach into the soil and adversely affect the flowers.

References

• Utah State University: Growing Pansies
• West Virginia University Extension Service; Pansies; Clifford W. Collier Jr., et al.
• Clemson Cooperative Extension; Pansies & Johnny-Jump-Ups; Karen Russ, et al.; March 1999