All About Pansies

Pansies are hardy, or cold-tolerant, bi-annuals. They can survive cold snaps, even snow, with little damage except to the open blossoms. They grow quickly in the cool weather of spring, and will be in their full glory when other, warm-season annuals are still in the green plant stage.

Light

Pansies prefer a SUNNY SPOT. Shade makes them stretch and cuts down on the number of flowers produced. They will, however, tolerate very light shade, and a couple of hours of shade in the hot afternoon is to their liking.

Watering

Plant pansies in moist, (NOT wet) fertile soil. If pansies dry out, or are nutrient starved, their vigor declines very quickly. Baskets and clay containers will probably need watering every day in temperatures above 75°

Fertilizer

Feed pansies with either: 1- a granular flower food 2- a water-soluble food like Peters or Miracle-Gro, every other watering or 3- A slow release pellet like Osmocote.

Maintenance

Remove the spent flower heads before they form seeds. Energy that could be going into the production of new flowers is wasted on formation of seeds if the faded flowers aren’t picked off regularly. Remove the entire flower stem, not just the flower on the end. Pinching is fine, or use scissors.

Many gardeners ask if pansies will bloom all summer. The answer depends on several factors – the amount of care they receive, the heat tolerance of the variety planted, and summer rainfall and temperatures. Pansies should not be thought of as a replacement for main-stream annuals like marigolds and petunias, but as a preview to them. Many gardeners prefer to remove their pansies once the hot weather hits, and replace them with heat-loving annuals. Others will cut their pansies back in mid-July, and allow them to grow again for fall blooms. Still others grow their pansies in containers on their porches and patios so that they have lots of color while waiting for the mainstream flowers to grow.’

Do you still have questions? Just ask us online or in store!