Garden Planner Growing Information for Pansy

Pansy

Crop Rotation Group

Miscellaneous

Pansy, also known as Viola

Soil

Any good garden soil with average or better drainage.

Position

Full sun to partial shade in warm climates.

Frost tolerant

Good. Young plants set out in fall survive winter cold in many climates.

Feeding

Encourage fast growth by mixing a balanced organic fertilizer into the soil before planting. Drench plants with a liquid fertilizer every three weeks to support prolonged blooming.

Companions

Combine petite pansies with other hardy annuals such as dusty miller or dianthus. Pansies also combine well with chrysanthemums, marigolds and other popular autumn flowers.

Spacing

Single Plants: 9" (25cm) each way (minimum)
Rows: 9" (25cm) with 9" (25cm) row gap (minimum)

Sow and Plant

When starting pansy seeds indoors in late winter, barely cover the seeds with moist seed starting mix. Grow the seedlings under bright lights until they are large enough to transplant outdoors. Most gardeners save time by buying pansies as bedding plants.
Our Garden Planning Tool can produce a personalized calendar of when to sow, plant and harvest for your area.

Notes

Pansies come in an endless variety of color combinations. The smaller 'johnny jump-up' types (see separate icon) have markings called "faces" and often reseed but larger paneis hardly ever do. Perennial forms, often called violas, are most at home in cool maritime climates.

Harvesting

Despite their small size, pansies make nice blossoms to cluster together in a vase.

Troubleshooting

Hot summer weather often leads to the demise of spring-planted pansies.