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Growing Pansies and Violas

By David Epstein

April 1, 2014

1 minute to read

After the long and cold winter you might be anxious to start putting out some spring color in the garden or in some of those containers that have been sitting idle all winter. There are several annuals that will do well in the cool weather of early spring and thrive up until the heat of summer.

Pansies and violas are probably the most popular spring plants for early color and with good reason. These plants can survive a hard freeze and will keep flowering with minimal care. Over the past several years newer varieties have been developed to flower longer and fuller.

Pansies and violas are cousins and look very similar except for the size of the flowers. Violas tend to be smaller, although there are varieties of violas that are now almost as big as a pansy.
You can read more of my garden tips on Twitter @growingwisdom.

Pansies thrive in sun to partial sun and like well-drained soil. If you over water pansies you can rot them and they will die. Let the soil dry out somewhat between watering. If your pansies do dry out too much the leaves will droop, but they will recover in a few hours once you water them.
As each flower dies, you can pinch off the stem where it meets the plant and discard it. Deadheading pansies is a great way to promote new blooms and keep the plants thick. Violas tend to not need to be deadheaded and the flowers are smaller so it’s not as easy anyway.
I pick whatever color I like in a particular year preferring to mix up what I use each spring. Pansies are one of those flowers that looks really good when you mix and match lots of different colors and sizes.
You can use a time release fertilizer in a container of pansies or mix in some organic slow release product in the ground. If the temperature does go below 28F, you can cover your pansies with some row cover or an old sheet. If you have containers, just move them inside or even into a corner against the house.