Powerful Little Pansy

When the temperatures begin to drop I  say my goodbyes to the tired and often crispy summer plants. I make way for my fall garden. One fall essential to flower containers and landscapes is the powerful little Pansy. Pansies are great flowers because they love the cool temperatures of fall and winter in Tulsa. With our past winters being so mild, many Tulsans found that their Pansy's lasted well into spring.  Pansy's are very easy to plant and care for.

Pansies like to be crowded in, for a tight professional look, I like to space them about an 4 to 6 inches apart, roughly about the width of your fist. If your flower bed is prepared and has loose good soil, I recommend using a dibble for digging your hole. A good dibble can speed up the plant process considerably.  If your flower bed soil is less than perfect, you might use a hand trowel. In a worst case scenario you can even go for a quick and painless garden auger. Your Pansy only needs to be planted about 4 to 5 inches into the ground. Dig the hole but before planting your flower, throw in a good slow release fertilizer, like Colorstar. Fertilizers will increases bloom production, insures plant health, and maximizes plant growth. With your Colorstar in the hole put your plant in and cover. Be sure also, to gently loosen those plants once you pop them out of their containers. Once you have planted your flower be sure to water your freshly planted Pansies. To finish with a professional look apply about 4 inch layer of a good mulch, like Grade A Ceder. Mulch helps shield your plants roots from the winter chill and also aids in retaining moisture.   

To figure out how many plants you need first determine your planting area's square foot. Do this by simply multiply the length of the area by the width of the area. If your planting area is 3' by 5'  your square foot would be 15'.

This chart, created by gardenality.com makes determining how many plants you need a little more simple.

Pansy Container Garden

Pansies are great filler for fall container gardens. Keep Pansy's trimmed tight or let them trail down both are great color additions. I typically will plant Pansies with Kale and Celosia. This year I added Millet to many of my designs to add an extreme color contrast.

Food for Thought:

Maybe I am a tad out of touch, but I recently learned that Pansies can also be used as a food. I must stress the importance of organic gardening if you choose to pursue this. Pansies apparently are high in both Vitamen A and C. Admittedly I have yet to eat a Pansy but I welcome any comments from anyone who has.  Pansy Recipes-