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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Pansies
Pansies are the cheerful flowers with upturned 鈥渇aces.鈥 They love cool weather and are popular for growing in spring and fall. They鈥檙e also edible, adding color to salads, drinks, and cakes. Here鈥檚 how to plant pansies and keep them growing and blooming for bright, happy gardens and containers.
About Pansies
Pansies are a type of Viola (Viola 脳 wittrockiana) with large heart-shaped, overlapping petals and one of the widest ranges of bright, pretty colors and patterns.
Suitable for containers and borders and as ground cover, they are a go-to flower for reliable color almost year-round in some places. Pansies look pretty in a monochrome scheme or mixed colors; they also look pretty when planted with other cool-season flowers such as primroses, trailing lobelia, and sweet alyssum.
Are Pansies Annual or Perennial Flowers?
Most gardeners treat pansies (and all violas) as an annual, but they鈥檙e actually hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 3-8. They tend to get too leggy in the heat of summer. There hasn鈥檛 been much success in producing heat-tolerant pansies that can adequately survive hot weather.
Pansies are surprisingly hearty in cold weather, though. They鈥檒l 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.
Growing
How to Care for Pansies
- Remember to water pansies regularly. One of the most common reasons pansies fail is that they are not watered enough, so if they 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, as this can result in more foliage than flowers.
- Remove faded/dead flowers to encourage the plants to produce more blooms and prolong the blooming season. You can either pinch off the flower bud or cut it off just below the faded bud.
Catherine Boeckmann
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I live in zone 7 and have a planter of pansies since mid April. They were beautiful till now, but have become leggy and the blooms look wilted. I have been pinching off the dead blooms and watering it every evening, but it hasn't helped. Any suggestions?
I live in zone 6b I think. On the mountain. I planted a mix of pansies in September last year. Didn't do anything special for them, except weed around them this spring, and they have been blooming ever since. Even bloomed during all the snow and ice.
While deadheading today, I managed to break off a healthy stem with 2 flowers in bloom, and two buds. Is there any way I can start a new plant from this, or do you have to start from seed? Thank you in advance for your help, hope it's not a stupid question, but I'm a gardening newbie.
Yes, you can grow new pansies from seed or cuttings (or division in the spring or fall). Cut just below the a leaf joint and remove all the flowers and leaves except a few leaves at the very top. Dip in rooting hormone. Plant in fertile soil up to the top of the stem. Water well.
I'm in Zone 5a. I planted my pansies in early spring the first week of April and they have been blooming beautifully until last week. I water them any day it doesn't rain and I fertilize them every two weeks. Last week I noticed that all the pansies looked like someone literally stepped on them and flattened them, but no stems were broken. I fertilized them and they perked up within hours and all stood straight up again and looked beautiful. Two days later, they all fell over again. I am guessing they are wilting and I don't know why. They are in full sun and temps have been in the 70's-80's the last couple weeks. Should I move them to the shade? Are they dying? I had always thought they should last until fall.
The pansies are reacting to the warm temperatures. It would be good if you can move them into a shadier spot or at least protect them from the hot afternoon sun. Keep watering and deadheading and your pansies should bloom all summer.
I started my pansies from seed indoors during January. They are just starting to set some flowers (mid May). They are very healthy plants just no flowers. I bought some flats of pansies to get my fix of early spring blooms. When do I need to start my pansy seeds to get march flowers? Or am I doing something wrong with the lighting inside? I used two florescent tubes to grow them under. How do green houses get such early flowers?
So your seeds have already sprouted? If you've gotten that far congrats. Growing pansies from seed can be challenging and doesn't always have a high success rate. If they've germinated, then it's only a matter of time before flowers come. Pansies from seed just take a long time to mature and to flower no matter who you are. We start seeds 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost date.
I have two questions.
1. Can I plant pansies in the fall over tulips? I live in upstate NY, zone 6. I saw some mixed beds in France of tulips and pansies that were very striking. Can I use regular pansies for that?
1. I have some pansies in pots and window boxes. They seem to be doing fine, then all of the sudden they start to wilt. When I give them a tug, they come right out of the soil, and it appears something has chewed through the root at ground level. Cutworms? How do i get rid of them?
Hi James,
Yes, you can plant hardy varieties of pansies in the fall. Icicle pansies have been bred specifically for northern regions and other varieties that grow well in the north are Skyline, Universal, and Crystal Bowl. A new variety on the market is Snow Angel. Plant the pansies in Sept./Oct. and add some mulch. Cut worms do attack pansies sometimes. Check the plants at night and remove the worms by hand if you can or repot the pansies in new fresh soil.
