Pansies are starting to bloom – now is the perfect time to add some color to your home while we wait for Mother Nature to bring us warmer weather.
Pansies are hardy plants and will perform their best in cooler weather, even surviving a frost. They like rich, well drained soil and can handle sun or partial shade. Keeping the soil moist will help prevent the flowers from drooping. Try not to plant them too close together as overcrowding can increase the chance of them getting ‘leggy’ from stretching upwards towards the sun for light.
These plants are very easy to grow and require minimum care to provide a long flowering season. They will produce more flowers more and last longer if the spent flowers are dead headed throughout the season.
Pansies are generally not affected by diseases or insects. However, where slugs are around, they will not pass up a bed of pansies! Sprinkling a bit of slug bait around the plants will help with this problem.
Even though they like the sun, they do not like the hot heat. It is best to cut them back and mulch them during the hottest months to preserve any moisture, watering infrequently. When the weather gets cooler again you will be rewarded with a second showing of blooms.
