ARTY'S GARDEN: Pansies and Violas Provide a Winter Rainbow

Originally published in the Oct. 30, 2013, issue

 

Even the most ardent fans of Gone with the Wind may find it hard to believe that when Margaret Mitchell began writing her famous novel she had a different name for Scarlett. The original name Mitchell gave her heroine was Pansy.

 

Pansy was a common name for girls in the 19^th century. Sources that track these things claim that Pansy reached its peak of popularity in 1900 and dropped off the charts by 1950.

 

Though the name Pansy is no longer popular, the flower pansy is more popular than ever! In fact, as we look at the millions of pansies in bloom all across Georgia in the coming months, we may find it hard to believe there was once a time when pansies were not a widespread part of our winter landscape. Some gardeners did not plant pansies in the fall, but waited until early spring. Seriously! They were missing months of color and beauty! And the varieties available 50 years ago were few and inferior compared to what we have today.  

 

Today you will find many varieties of pansies and violas for sale in nurseries and garden centers. Violas are pansies with smaller, but more numerous flowers. Few flowers other than bearded irises offer such an array of color. Yellow, gold, crimson, dark red, rose, blue, violet, lavender, purple, white, cream, apricot, orange and combinations of these are all part of the pansy and viola palette. There are some that are almost black. These dark beauties look like they are made of velvet and provide an ideal contrast to yellow, white and orange varieties.

 

Georgia growers sowed seeds for pansies and violas back in July or August and nursed the seedlings along through late summer so that all we have to do is pick out the forms and colors we want when we go to a nursery or garden center.

 

Plant your pansies and violas in sunny areas in well-prepared beds or containers filled with potting soil. Water them well at planting. Especially be sure to keep those in containers watered during winter dry spells. Keep dead blooms pinched off to encourage new blooms to appear. If seed pods form, the plants may stop flowering. To fertilize, use an all-purpose balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 and follow directions on the label. Remember, it is always better to under-fertilize than to use too much.

 

If you don’t want just pansies and violas, you can add winter color with other hardy annuals such as snapdragons, ornamental kale and cabbage, dusty miller, dianthus and curly parsley.  Visit a local nursery or garden center today to see what varieties of pansies, violas and winter annuals they have available. They can also advise you on preparing your beds with compost or soil amendments and what fertilizers to choose. If you aren’t sure about what color flowers look best together, they can help you with that as well!

 

Arty Schronce is the Department’s resident gardening expert. He’s a lifelong gardener and a horticulture graduate of North Carolina State University who encourages everyone to discover the pleasures of plants and gardening.