Pansies are the colorful flowers with “faces.” A cool-weather favorite, pansies are great for both spring and fall gardens! Here’s how to plant pansies as well as keep them growing and blooming.
Pansies have heart-shaped, overlapping petals and one of the widest ranges of bright, pretty colors and patterns.
Good for containers, borders, and as ground cover, they are a go-to flower for reliable color almost year-round. Pansies look pretty on their own in a monochrome scheme or in mixed colors; they also look pretty when planted with other cool-season flowers such as violas, primroses, trailing lobelia, and sweet alyssum.
Are pansies annual or perennial flowers?
The pansy may be treated as either an annual or a perennial, depending on your climate. However, most gardeners treat this plant as an annual because it prefers cool weather and gets too leggy in the heat of summer. There hasn’t been much success in producing heat-tolerant pansies that can adequately survive hot weather.
Pansies are surprisingly hearty in cold weather, though. They’ll survive a frost, bouncing back from even single digit temperatures. If the blooms wither in the cold, the plants will often stay alive to bloom again, which makes them a great flowering plant for fall and early winter color.
How To Grow Pansies and Violas
Choose a sunny spot with free draining soil. If the location gets a bit of late afternoon shade that’s even better as it will give extra protection when the hot weather arrives. Improve the soil before planting with some compost, manure and/or an organic pelletised fertiliser.
If starting from seed it’s best to sow into punnets first as they are fairly slow to germinate (3-4 weeks). Seeds need darkness to germinate so ensure they are covered well by soil. Keep moist the whole time and plant out when a decent size. Alternatively purchase seedlings or potted colour from the nursery and plant straightaway.
Mulch around plants to protect flowers from soil splashing up, maintain moisture and keep weeds at bay. Plants will be very quick to produce buds but it’s best to pinch off the first lot so the plants put more energy into establishing themselves.
How to Care for Pansies
Remember to water 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. Be wary of using a nitrogen-heavy fertilizer, though, as this can result in more foliage instead of flowers.
Remove faded/dead flowers to encourage the plants to produce more blooms and to prolong the blooming season.
Common Pests
Slugs can be a nuisance during wet seasons, especially if growing in partial shade.1 Use a slug bait or thin out the planting, so it’s less damp. Occasionally, aphids will attack pansies. Insecticidal soap should remove them. Use caution if you prefer to kill aphids with a strong blast of water since pansies are rather small and delicate.