Pansies for thoughts
By By Gail Barton / horticulture columnist
Oct. 19, 2003
When Shakespeare's Ophelia said, "Pansies, that's for thoughts …," she was not talking about planting pansies she was making a pun.
The word "pansy" sounds similar to the French word pensee which means thought. The pansies of Shakespeare's time probably had a closer resemblance to their wild violet cousins than to the modern hybrids. The true modern pansy was the result of numerous crosses by British plant breeders in the early 1800s.
Pansy and violet cultivation reached a state of frenzy in Victorian England because the plants were cold-tolerant and could be forced to bloom in unheated sunrooms during the winter.
The Victorians cherished the fragrance of the violet and proved their devotion by forming many Violet and Pansy Societies. During the many years that pansies have been in cultivation, the plants have accumulated quite a string of poetic names such as heartsease and kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate.
These names communicate the fondness that many gardeners feel for pansies. Modern pansies come in many varieties. One of my favorites is the hybrid Delta variety. Delta pansies are hardy, have a long blooming season and are free-flowering. Other varieties such as Majestic Giant have fewer but larger flowers.
I'm also fond of the violas. These are a pansy relatives with dainty flowers borne in profusion. Viola varieties like Sorbet Mix are available at many nurseries around town. The flowers look like miniature pansies and come in an array of colors. In May, like pansies, they literally bloom themselves to death.
Old fashioned Johnny jump-ups are a type of viola with purple and yellow "faces." Johnny jump-ups are edible. They have a mild sweet taste and their colorful faces make an attractive garnish for birthday cakes and fruit salads. Their appearance is similar to an old fashioned wild violet and you'll find them frequently in old fashioned flower gardens where they often reseed themselves for years.
Johnny jump-ups can be grown from seed sown early in the fall. At this point in the fall, I would recommend purchasing them or other types of violas and pansies as bedding plants from your favorite garden center. When planted in mid-October, you can expect pansies or violas to bloom until May. To insure success, locate beds in a sunny spot with a cool moist well-drained soil. Set plants at a spacing of about eight inches. Pansies tolerate temperatures of 15 degrees or less, but will not tolerate summer Mississippi heat. In winter the plants will crumple and appear to be damaged early in the morning after a heavy frost. During the day as temperatures rise, the leaves unfold and flowers open.
Mulching is beneficial because it controls springtime weeds, conserves water, and provides a cool root zone. Pansies may be troubled by hungry slugs so keep some slug bait on hand or set out saucers of beer and entice the slugs to drink themselves to death. Pansies are heavy feeders. Provide a high nitrogen fertilizer such as 12-6-6 or blood meal at planting. The blood meal can be added beneath each plant. 12-6-6 or any fertilizer with a high first number can be applied in water soluble form every two weeks thereafter except during very cold weather.
If you choose to use a granular fertilizer apply at recommended rates every four to six weeks. The production of large flowers will be enhanced if you occasionally substitute a fertilizer high in phosphorus. High phosphorus fertilizers have a high middle number. To get the longest spring color from pansies, be sure to continue fertilization through spring.
Few flowers provide so many months of continuous bloom as a pansy or viola. Plant now and you'll enjoy them all winter.
Gail Barton is the horticulture technology program coordinator at Meridian Community College.
