What To Do With Pansies and Violas
Plant Spring Plants in Containers Butterfly and Vegetable Gardens
Grow these spring plants in butterfly gardens, container gardens or with cool season vegetables. Use the edible flowers in the kitchen, too.
Pansies and violas are petite annual flowers that beautify gardens each spring. These spring plants can grow in butterfly gardens, vegetable gardens and container gardens or be used as edible flowers in the kitchen.
Deep purple pansies set against yellow daffodils or the old fashioned pastels of ‘Imperial Antique Shades’ set against a backdrop of green Junipers will be eye catching in any garden. Use pansies and violas to fill in the bare spots where no spring bulbs popped up.
Small pots of pansies and violas will start off a container gardening season with a rainbow of bright colors. Gardeners are able to set out containers filled with pansies; well before the frost-free dates most northern gardeners must follow.
Early spring butterflies will benefit from the nectar offered by colorful pansies. A butterfly garden is the perfect place to add pansies and violas.
In vegetable gardens, container or in ground, plant pansies or violas among the early, cool season vegetables. The vegetable garden will be a feast for the eyes, as well as the taste buds.
Pansies and violas are edible flowers many cooks appreciate:
· Using pansies to dress up ice rings is a cool attraction in a punch bowl.
· The petals of pansies or violas added to salad are a colorful change of pace.
· The colorful flowers can be crystallized and used to decorate the edge of a cake.
Annual Flowers
The pansy plant is a tough annual, 4 – 8 inches tall and with a spread of 12 inches. The viola plant is slightly smaller with profuse but dainty flowers. Each type is equally colorful. They thrive in full sun to part shade and need moist well-draining soil.
Gardeners should look for pansies with sturdy stems and upward facing blooms. Deadheading both types of flowers will ensure healthy plants. Remember to replace any worn out pansies or violas with more heat tolerate plants, as midsummer temperatures increase.
There are many varieties of pansies and violas to choose from. To extend the season, choose heat tolerant cultivars. Some All America Selections include ‘Majestic Giants,’ ‘Maxim Marina,’ and ‘Imperial Antique Shades.’ The pansy ‘Jolly Joker’ is an All America Selection with velvet looking, purple and orange petals. The ‘Bingo Blotch’ series have 3 ½ “ flowers with shorter stems. Violas ‘Sorbet Tiger Eye’ has a gold color and ‘Valentine,’ a red and white flower. The viola ‘Skippy XL Plum-Gold’ is the All America Selection for 2008.
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