Pansies

Botanical name: Viola x wittrockiana

Plant type: Flower [2]

USDA Hardiness Zones: 4 [3], 5 [4], 6 [5], 7 [6], 8 [7]

Sun exposure: Full Sun [8]

Flower color: Red [9], Pink [10], Orange [11], Yellow [12], Blue [13], Purple [14], White [15]

Bloom time: Winter [16], Spring [17], Summer [18], Fall [19]

Pansies are hardy annuals whose flowers have "faces." These plants offer colorful flowers for any season in your garden. They have one of the widest ranges of colors and are good for containers, borders, and ground covers.

Planting

• You can start pansy seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before you plan on transplanting them.
• Plant seeds in late winter for early spring and summer flowering, or plant seeds in the summer for winter flowering.
• Plant in moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil. Pansies like sun and cooler temperatures.
• Space the plants about 7 to 12 inches apart. They will spread about 9 to 12 inches and grow to be about 6 to 9 inches tall.

Care

• Remember to water your pansies regularly. One of the most common reasons pansies fail is because they are not watered enough, so if your pansies are not doing well, try watering them more.
• You can use a general, all-purpose fertilizer around your pansies to help them grow.
• Remove faded/dead flowers to prolong blooming and encourage more flowers to grow.

Pests

• Mosaic viruses [20]
• Downy mildew
• Powdery mildew [21]
• Crown and root rot
• Rust [22]
• Gray mold [23]
• Spot anthracnose [24]
• Slugs [25], snails, and aphids [26]

Recommended Varieties

• Jolly Joker, which blooms in spring and summer and has orange flowers with deep purple upper petals and a purple outline.
• Princess Series, which offer a variety of colors such as blue, purple, and yellow.
• Fama Series, which flowers in winter and spring and offers a wide variety of single– and mixed–colored flowe

E-Cards

[27]

Click here to send a free e-card of these pretty pansies. [27]

Click here to see other images of pansies. [28]