Plant pansies now for instant color

The unmistakable fragrance of pansies fills the air in an open hoop house at Laurel Nursery and Garden Center. The wonderful aroma originates on a long bench covered with both pansies and violas in a multitude of cheery colors.

Ken Heese, his father John and son Jacob all work together running the operation which has been a Latrobe area gardening institution since 1974. Ken has been helping customers grow the right plant at the right time for the past 36 years and this is when he recommends planting pansies.

 

“They like the cooler weather,” he says. “They thrive in these pre-80 degree temperatures and perform very well in the early spring.”

Not only can they be planted in the ground, pansies and violas also are great for growing in pots too.

“It’s a fantastic container plant as long as (customers) don’t leave it in the hot sun while they are at work,” he says, stressing that morning sun is best for pansies.

Look for healthy, deep green leaves and compact plants when searching for plants, he says. Pansies will thrive until somewhere around July 4th in our climate. When they start to fade, other plants can be put in among them to take over. Impatiens and other choices could shade the cool weather plants in hopes pansies would pick up steam in the fall.

“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. For most people, enjoy them while they are there,” Heese says. “When they start getting leggy, clean them out and put in whatever annual you want for the summer.”

Then when frost kills the annuals at the end of the season, pansies go back in the ground or into pots. Last year, the flowers lasted well into mid-winter until a hard freeze.

“I’ve actually had them in our planter beds along the highway that still had flowers on them when we’re plowing snow over them,” he says with a laugh.

Whether it’s pansies or most other bedding plants, Heese recommends keeping the soil evenly moist. It’s critical that the pansies don’t completely dry out, but they also don’t want to be waterlogged as they could rot. Soaking them in the morning, letting them use up the water and checking them at the end of the day will give gardeners a good feel for how they are doing.

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“Get down on your hands and knees, stick your fingers in the dirt,” he says. “Find that happy medium in your watering.”

At the nursery, the pansies are fed with a liquid fertilizer every time they are watered. When planting, make sure the soil has been improved to get the most out of your plants.

“If you prep your planting bed like you’re planting a vegetable garden, your plants will grow,” Heese says. “If you cheat and get lazy, you’re going to have problems.”

The long table filled with the colorful plants is quite spectacular, it’s a way to give customers a wide range of choices. “We’re trying to have enough color out there so they go ‘wow,’ and they have to take their time picking what they want,” he says. “We want them to have the experience of a massive selection.”

His father John walks out of the pansy greenhouse to share a funny quote from a customer. “He said, ‘If anyone ever calls you a pansy, take it as a compliment. Because they are one of the hardiest plants around.’ ”

Details: 724-539-7022 or facebook.com/LaurelNurseryLatrobe

Enjoy a splash of color

Niki Jabbour is a prolific book author and is part of Savvy Gardening (savvygardening.com), a website that discusses everything about food and flower gardening. Tribune-Review garden columnist Jessica Walliser also is one of the four authors that are part of the site.

Jabbour lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, grows vegetables year round along with her beloved pansies.

“There’s nothing better to welcome spring than a pot of pansies with pussy willows or other cold tolerant plants at your front door,” she says.

She starts them from seed in February. Then she plants them out in her zone five garden as soon as the snow melts in early April. She grows from seed because she can’t find the varieties she wants at her local garden center. Jabbour grows ‘Victorian Posy’ heirloom pansies from Renee’s Garden Seeds. It’s probably a little late in the season for us to start from seed. But if you’re looking to grow something interesting or different, they could be started in August for fall planting.

“They’re sort of a ruffly beautiful collection of pansies that have these old-fashioned romantic colors like mahogany, gold and lilac,” she says.
Even though she has lots of her own plants, Jabbour can’t resist getting more flats when visiting her local nursery.

“They have them right by the front door, of course, because they know I’m going to buy them,” she says laughing. “I don’t think there’s ever been a gardener in the history of time that has passed by the pansy selection at a spring greenhouse and not purchased at least one container, it’s impossible.”

Since she’s growing vegetables all winter long under protection, she’ll put pansies in consort with the veggies to overwinter in hoop houses and coldframes. The plants have even made it through winter without protection with the help of some insulating snow.

“Pansies have that splash of color you desperately need after a long winter. It takes away the gloom and brings spring instantly to my front porch and garden, Jabbour says. They are just so cheerful, so hardy and you can grow them pretty much anywhere.”

Doug Oster is the editor of Everybody Gardens. Reach him at 412-965-3278 or doster@tribweb.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodygardens.com.

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