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How to Grow Pansies: The Complete Pansy Flower Guide

yellow and purple pansies in terracotta pots
Photo Credit
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Viola x wittrockiana
Plant Type
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Part Sun
Soil pH
Slightly Acidic to Neutral
Bloom Time
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Flower Color
Blue
Multicolor
Orange
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Yellow
Hardiness Zone
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Pansies

Catherine Boeckmann

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.

Pansies in a field

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Planting

Plant in moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil. See our articles on soil amendments and preparing soil for planting for more information. 

Pansies like full or partial sun but need cooler temperatures to thrive. The ideal planting site will get morning sun but avoid the late afternoon heat. 

Space the plants about 7 to 12 inches apart. They will spread about 9 to 12 inches and grow about 6 to 9 inches tall.

鈥淎 technique gaining in popularity is to plant spring blooming bulbs in fall in the usual fashion, and then install pansies in the same bed, right over the bulbs,鈥 explains . 鈥淭he bulbs will emerge and bloom, providing additional color while the bulb foliage ripens.  This is a great way to get more color from your beds until it鈥檚 time to plant summer annuals.鈥

When to Plant Pansies

  • Pansies can be planted in the early spring or in the fall. 
  • Pansies can be finicky to start from seed; buying established plants from a local nursery is a lot easier. Plus, you’ll get blooms a lot sooner.
  • But if you want to start from seed, start pansy seeds indoors in late winter, 8 to 10 weeks before the last spring frost, for early spring and summer flowering. Or, start seeds in late summer for fall and winter flowering. Pansy seeds may be slow to germinate (typically emerging in anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, depending on soil temperature).
  • Set pansy plants in the ground when it becomes workable in the spring. They grow best when soil temperatures are between 45掳F and 65掳F (7掳C and 18掳C).
  • Pansies can tolerate a light frost just after planting, but try to hold off on putting them in the ground if temperatures are still regularly reaching well below freezing.

Growing Pansies in Pots

  • Pansies are great for containers. Just use standard potting soil designed for containers.
  • Plant in portable containers (12 inches or less in diameter) so the plants can be moved to a cooler area when the sun starts to get stronger. Early in the spring season or in the fall, a south-facing patio might be the perfect spot. During the summer, move pansies to the east side of your home for morning sun and afternoon shade.

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.
pansies purple and yellow pansy flowers
Beautiful pansies are a wonderful addition to any garden!

Types

  • 鈥楯olly Joker鈥 blooms in spring and summer and has orange flowers with deep purple upper petals and a purple outline.
  • Princess Series, which offers 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 flowers.

See 10 pansy varieties and pretty pictures!

Gardening Products

Wit and Wisdom

  • Pansies symbolize 鈥渢hinking鈥 or 鈥渢houghts.鈥 The word 鈥減ansy鈥 itself comes from French 辫别苍蝉茅别, meaning 鈥渢hought.鈥 Find out more flower meanings here.
  • Pansies are one of several edible garden flowers! They have a mild minty flavor and make for a lovely edible flourish on a salad or dessert.

Pests/Diseases

How Do You Keep Rabbits From Eating Pansies? 

Place dried sulfur, available at farm and garden supply stores, around the edge of your garden. You could also sprinkle bloodmeal around your pansies after each rainfall; it will also benefit the soil by adding nitrogen. However, don’t try it if you have dogs that roam the garden. They may be attracted to the scent and start digging.

Flowers
About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it鈥檚 not surprising that she and The Old Farmer鈥檚 蜜桃恋人 found each other. She leads digital content for the 蜜桃恋人 website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann
 

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Comments

Cynthia Mehary (not verified)

3 years 6 months ago

Thanks so much for telling me that Pansies have "faces". Now I know the difference between the Pansy and the Petunia. Those "faces" are sweet and lovely.
Thanks

ANGE (not verified)

3 years 8 months ago

Just want to say 'Thank You for your Web-site.
Your Comment Section and Q and A is just invaluable to
all of us Garden Novice.
Thank you Again
Ange Dixon

Sharon Cardenas (not verified)

3 years 9 months ago

I live in Southeastern Tn. I have had potted Pansies blooming in winter with snow fall. They love Spring, Fall & will tolerate Winter, But come Summer time where I live you can forget it. The summer temps here are in the 90's & sometimes get to low 100's. They die. I just pull them up & plant a new batch in the Fall.

How many pansy plants can be in a container I put 4 in a pot about 16鈥 pot

mb perry (not verified)

3 years 10 months ago

I planted my pansy seeds in pots around December 1 and keep them in a south-facing window in Massachusetts, I have a lot of green plants but no flowers yet. If I use supplemental light and low-nitrogen fertilizer, do you think I could have flowers by February?

This is tricky: pansies like cool weather and most homes are warm and dry. Supplemental light might help in a cool environment, but so might a cool sunroom. And water them regularly. You have the right idea regarding nitrogen; hold back but once the plants bloom, you can fertilize every three to four weeks. Hope this helps!

Susan MV (not verified)

4 years 1 month ago

I'm planting pansies in containers on my north-facing balcony, in Zone 7a. They'll get about an hour of morning sun as it rises, and then an hour of late afternoon sun. The hours in between are in light shade. Should I supplement the light with a grow light, or will they get enough ambient light to produce flowers throughout the winter?

Pansies respond to changes in daylength, flowering more when exposed to more daylight hours. Without supplemental lighting, your plants likely won’t flower until late winter or early spring, when the days get longer again. (Even with supplemental lighting, don’t be suprised if they take a break from flowering during winter!). Additionally, they need a lot of light to produce blooms, so it sounds like they would need supplemental lighting in your case.

Rebecca Miller (not verified)

4 years 6 months ago

Hi, I'm a novice gardener and have started seeding plants in a greenhouse (not any special kind of greenhouse) I have had luck with my summer flower plants and veggies but am wanting to expand and do some fall/winter plants. I'm in Oklahoma so summers get summer hot and humid. When would be the best time to start seeding pansies to plant in the fall and will they tolerate the heat in a greenhouse or should I do them inside?

Debbie Fleischer (not verified)

4 years 8 months ago

I regularly plant pansies in the late fall. I have 2 South facing window boxes outside. My pansies bloom all winter long and sometimes into the summer. I always have beautiful flowers all winter long. We get snow and freezing temps in northern Nevada, but they keep on blooming. So nice to have color in winter. Another winter bloomer is heliobore. I planted a purple one several years ago. Now it has purple, white, light purple and variegated purple flowers. Very pretty.