PANSIES - COOL WEATHER ANNUALS

PANSIES (viola x wittrockiana) are cool weather annuals, meaning they thrive in cool weather.  Because of this, this is the perfect time to plant your pansies.  They are hardy; they over-winter beautifully, giving them a big head start for your spring beds.  They are grown for their spring bloom, which lasts through to hot weather.  In cooler weather, they actually can last a lot longer, through the summer.  They come in a great variety of colors, with more coming out each year.  There is virtually every color in the color wheel, with blotches in the center, variegated, and everywhere from white to dark red and near blacks.  Check with your local nurseries for them right now. Plant them most anywhere in your beds--they will tolerate full sun, but I think they do best in areas of partial shade.  When they get "leggy",  cut back your plants.  Just snip off the top part of the plant to revive them. (This will curtail their re seeding also). When planted now, your beds will be full and blooming in very early spring, as the cold and snow doesn't hurt them in the least.   If you're sowing seeds, cover the seeds with soil, as they need darkness to germinate.  One year we had an especially wet, long spring, and the pansies were wonderful--they will thrive in cool, wet conditions. They are easy to transplant if you have areas in the spring with bare spots that need their beautiful color--just take your trowel and dig up a bunch, with soil and roots still attached around it, and replant where you need it. Plants die out by midsummer usually in areas with hot summers.  I like to go to nurseries that offer a wide variety of pansies to choose from--the hard part is deciding which of these hardy little beauties to choose from!