Pansy / Viola

Pansy - Flower Description

Flowering right through the year Violas are extremely popular with gardeners. Available in a wide range of strikingly vibrant colours room can be found for pansies in most garden settings. Different varieties flower at different times of the year so judicious choices and planting can guarantee a constant succession of blooms even in winter.

Pansies are very adaptable and their low growing habit means that they can be used in many ways. Violas are excellent as ground cover or as a gap-filler in borders and beds. They are also idea in tubs, containers, window boxes and hanging baskets.

Cultivation of Pansy Plants

Violas perform best when they are cultivated as biennials.

Seeds should be sown in an external nursery bed from mid to late summer. When the seedlings are big enough they should be thinned out to a distance of 12cm apart.

In the autumn the small plants should be relocated to their permanent flowering location. The site chosen should be in full sun or in part shade. The soil should be good with good drainage, yet moist.

Regular deadheading will prolong the flowering season.

Pansy Pests and Diseases

Pansy, or violas, can be susceptible to a condition called Pansy Sickness which may cause the plant to collapse.