Colorful Pansies as Garden Bed Decoration

Colorful Pansies Are the Messengers of Spring

Sweet violets are undemanding, colorful annual to biennial flowers, of which approximately 450 species are known. They are widespread throughout Europe, but also in various corners of the world, in the tropics, and even in the mountains. In our region, pansies are characteristically known by the folk name violas. Types of pansies include: Field Pansy, Trailing Pansy, Garden Pansy, Large-flowered Pansy, and Wild Pansy.

Pansies or violas are divided into 3 basic groups based on their flowering time:

• Early pansies - bloom during autumn and early spring, or in warm winters without frost they continue flowering. They have smaller flowers.

• Late pansies - bloom in spring, in shaded positions until September. Like early pansies, they are frost-resistant.

• F1 hybrids - originate from Japan, have medium or large colorful flowers that are not frost-resistant. They overwinter in a cool room or greenhouse.

According to flower size, we divide pansies into these groups:

• Pirna violas - medium-sized flowers measuring 4-5 cm

• Erfurt early giant violas - flowers measuring 5-6 cm

• Swiss giant violas - large flowers measuring 6-7 cm

• Quedlinburg giant violas - the largest flowers measuring 6-8 cm

Pansies Today and Yesterday

As early as ancient Rome, pansy plants were praised by ancient poets. The breeding of pansies began in 1810 in England. The first pansy species we know are viola tricolor, viola lutea and viola calcarata. The most famous modern variety, viola wittrokiana, is derived from the work of Swedish botanist V.B. Wittrock. In our geographical latitudes, 25-30 species of pansies occur. People considered the original wild-growing plants as herbs of love and fidelity.

The Latin name viola means a red shade of blue. In our region, pansies are characteristically known by their folk name. The expression for pansies is derived from the arrangement of the pansy flower and its petals, which resemble a stepmother and her daughters. In the past, however, they were unpopular because they supposedly brought bad luck and misfortune to homes. Perhaps this was derived from the fact that pansies were grown primarily on the graves of the deceased. The word pansy is derived from the fact that the viola is a solitary little flower. Thanks to their unpretentiousness and abundant colorful flowers, they are popular in the Netherlands, France, and England.

Pansies together with typical spring flowers like daffodils or tulips create a beautiful spring flower bed. Although violas bloom mainly in spring, by planting them later we can achieve their autumn flowering until winter arrives. They are suitable for growing in flower beds, pots, decorative planters and hanging baskets.

How to Grow Violas

Sweet violet (lat. Viola) are mostly biennial plants that have colourful flowers of various sizes. They belong to the violet family (lat. Violaceae).

We grow them from seeds by planting directly in flower beds or in a greenhouse or hotbed. We plant late violas in hotbeds in February - April, moving them outside during May when the temperature reaches 15°C and they have at least 4 true leaves. During June - July we plant violas that will bloom in autumn or spring.

An unusual characteristic of violas is that they tolerate transplanting very well even during flowering. If we won't be transplanting the pansies later, we place maximum 3-4 seeds in one hole. We plant the seeds 20 cm apart.

For growing violas, medium-heavy soil with humus content is suitable. Later we plant them in sunny or semi-shaded locations in group flower beds not only in lowlands but also in mountainous areas. However, care must be taken that they are not exposed to excessive sunlight. During the growing season we water them carefully because they consume little water.

Pansies have a simple root system, short upright stem, elongated stalked leaves of oval shape. Pansy flowers are 3 - 8 cm and can be two-coloured or three-coloured with smooth or wavy edges of the petal lobes. The flowers display almost all colours, are single-coloured or combined, with or without an eye.

If we want to prolong the flowering of violas, it is necessary to continuously remove faded flowers. Viola plants are pollinated by insects or are self-pollinating. The fruit of violas is a capsule, which is further spread by ants. If we grow them in pots, we don't water them at all during winter. During the winter period we can overwinter them in pots or hanging baskets outdoors.