Perk garden up with pretty pansies

COLOURFUL: Pansies add colour in the garden. PHOTO: GARETH CARTER

The pansy is recognised as a cheerful, easy-going flower. The plants are easy to grow. So much so that if they are left to their own devices, they often self-sow and come up by themselves year after year. They will naturalise themselves into an area, coming up between cracks of paving or concrete, popping up throughout a garden and self-sowing into containers or pots nearby. They seem to survive in the toughest of spots with little water or sun and thrive in well-watered, fertile and sunny areas.
Pansies establish quickly, reaching flowering stage from first seedling appearance or planting in a matter of weeks. They then proceed to flower prolifically for six months or more.
It is little wonder the pansy is such a popular plant. They dislike the hot, intense sun of summer, but thrive throughout the other three seasons of the year. The cooler weather - while slowing the speed of establishment a little - doesn't seem to slow the flowering. The pansy is an excellent plant to grow for colour during the dull winter months.
The pansy is more popular than ever before and for many good reasons. The versatility of uses and tolerance of such a range of conditions has allowed this plant to gain popularity through all generations of gardeners and non-gardeners alike.
There are a number of ways you can use these cheerful, easy-to-grow, colourful plants to brighten up your winter abode and capture the imagination of others.
Pansies in hanging baskets
They are excellent for growing in hanging baskets. Planting both the top and sides of the basket will create the appearance of a ball of colour, which will look spectacular wherever you hang them. Using a wire basket with a coconut liner will allow you to put a slit in the sides with a craft knife through which the seedlings can be planted. When pansies grow in hanging baskets, watering needs to be watched more carefully, given they are suspended and tend to dry out quicker than pots on the ground. The addition of Saturaid to the potting mix, if it does not already contain it, will help dramatically with water retention.
Brighten the front entranceway
Nothing is more welcoming than a colourful floral display by the main entranceway; whether it is a home, shop, business or community building.
A display of pansies will provide a most eye-catching and colourful display for winter, and spring in garden borders and pots. Colours include purple, white, blues, black, scarlet, yellow, gold and mixed.
All are vibrant and produce a bright mix of colourful, cheerful flowers on strong compact plants for a long period of time.
When growing pansies in pots, don't be tempted to reuse old potting mix - tip this into the compost heap and start again. More than half the success of any plant depends on the soil it grows in. Select a decent potting mix and you're on your way to success!
When growing the flower in the garden, prepare the areas before planting by removing weeds and debris and cultivate the soil to a depth of 15cm. Mix in compost and a balanced garden fertiliser, such as Tui General Garden, or try some of the recently released organic-based Yates Dynamic Lifter Flower Food, which conditions and feeds the soil. Pansy or viola?
What is the difference between these two similar flowers? Plants considered to be pansies have four petals pointing upwards, and only one pointing down, whereas violas have three petals pointing up and two pointing down. I think the common description most of us generally use is simpler; with the term "pansy" used for those multi-coloured, large-flowered hybrids that are grown for bedding purposes every year, and "viola" is usually reserved for smaller, more delicate annuals and perennials.
Slugs and snails
The biggest pest for pansies, as with most annuals and bedding plants, is slugs and snails. These critters seem to disappear during the day and come out at night when no one is watching to devour young seedlings. When planting, it is prudent to spread slug pellets around to protect your winter colour display. The only other problem that is sometimes encountered when growing pansies is mildew. This shows up in the form of violet grey powder on the tops and/or undersides of the leaves. It is a sign of humidity, and in Wanganui only shows itself in late spring at the end of pansy season when the plants are best removed to make way for summer plantings of annuals.
Pansies - the secret food for success
The little-known favourite food of pansies is dried blood. This is not a fancy trade name, but the name of the actual product, 100 per cent organic from the meat works. It comes as a powder in a 300g sachet which can be sprinkled around the plant and watered in. It is high in organic nitrogen and iron, and if applied regularly as a side dressing, it will help prolong the flowering season and improve the health and strength of your pansies. Note: this is a different product to blood and bone. Use dried blood for pansies, polyanthus, cyclamen and primulas planted in baskets, pots or in the garden. You'll be pleased with the results.
Gareth Carter is general manager of Springvale Garden Centre