Blooming Times: Happy Faces

Friday, 17 January 2025 08:00

By Flo Whitaker

Considering a New Year’s Resolution for your garden? Grow more pansies, says Flo Whitaker

Cultivated pansies are descended from wild violets, (Violas) who mostly inhabit damp, bosky places and shady hedgerows. If your garden pansies soon become tired and miserable- looking, dryness at the roots is probably the cause. We frequently cram summer annuals into hot, confined spaces – and they mostly forgive us, but pansies are different characters that crave deep soil and cool roots.

A row of pansies, individually planted into dainty pots is a charming sight – and I’ve often done it myself, but such whimsies should be regarded
as short-term. To create a long-lived potted pansy display, use a potting mix comprising approximately 70% compost and 30% leaf mould. Add slow-release fertiliser and a generous scattering of horticultural grit to prevent the soil becoming ‘claggy’. A deep, 30cms diameter pot will give sufficient space for five plants – no more! Place in a slightly shaded position and ensure the compost remains moist. Pansies respond well to foliar feeds and benefit from a fortnightly splash of seaweed tonic applied with a fine-rosed watering can. Deadhead regularly – and the display should keep going for months.

Pansies are mostly purchased as bedding plants, but they can easily be raised from seed, which will offer you a wider choice of varieties. They may theoretically be sown at any time of year, although extreme heat inhibits germination, so avoid sowing in June/ July/August. An early spring sowing will give summer blooms, while a September sowing provides plants for winter. Despite their innocent faces, pansies have extremely low morals and will casually cross-pollinate with any other pansy in the vicinity. The resulting offspring may vary greatly from the parents – which is annoying if you have a particular favourite you’d like to keep going. Cuttings (genetically identical copies of a parent plant) can be successfully taken in spring and established clumps may be rejuvenated by removing old, straggly growth.

Most bedding-style pansies fade away within a year, but there are perennial types too. These much-overlooked gems are mostly found at plant fairs or specialist nurseries. The most vigorous varieties can reach 30cms high, making them ideal in a mixed border, where they will happily scramble about and enjoy the shade cast by neighbouring plants. ‘Ivory Queen’ is super-hardy and long-lived, although my favourite is possibly ‘Florence’, with its jewel-like amethyst blooms, (although, I suppose the name may be swaying me?)

Pansy flowers are edible, with an old-fashioned flavour akin to Parma violet sweets. They make pretty garnishes in summer drinks and a few scattered blooms will instantly elevate a cake or trifle to celebration status. Golden-flowered forms, such as ‘Honeybee’ or ‘Tiger Eyes’ look amazing mixed in with vivid green leafy salads. No garden is complete without pansies and violets – resolve to grow more of them this year!

Blooming Times: Happy Faces

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