Plant of the Week
Pansy
Latin: Viola x wittrockiana
In our highly technical era, we often assume that only experts
in a field can make a difference. In gardening, individual gardeners are the
experts and most of the plants we enjoy in our gardens today sprang from the
efforts of individuals, not plant breeders working for giant seed companies.
The pansy is such a plant. Pansies have become the most popular winter
bedding plant across most of the milder parts of the U.S. in the past several
decades. If planted in the fall, the preferred time, they will begin blooming in
November but the greatest concentration of flowers appears during the cool moist
spring from February through May.
Pansy is one of our earliest garden flowers, being cultivated since at least
the 16th Century in England. Originally, the pansy flower was either
singly colored in shades of yellow, blue or violet or had two petals of one
color and three of a second color. Flowers were small, less than an inch in
diameter.
The modern, large flowered pansy owes its existence to Englishman William
Thomson, who worked with the flower between 1814 and 1839. He crossed the native
johnny-jump-up (V. tricolor) with a yellow-flowered wildflower (V.
lutea) and a blue-flowered Russian violet called V. altacia. The dark
colored face – a blotch that is produced on the lower petals – appeared as a
chance seedling and, after development, was released as the variety Medora in
1839. Thomson worked on the estate of Lord Gambier, in Iver, northwest of
London. The faced pansies became the rage in England during the 19th
Century. Pansy shows were held to judge the most perfect kinds, just as rose and
orchids shows are held today.
Pansy colors have been extended to include orange, white and black flowers.
These show pansies were not of much use in the garden because they were
selected just for floral features, not good flower bed characteristics. As the
Victorian era progressed, gardeners began selecting plants that were well
branched and compact and better suited for use in the intricate bedding schemes
of the day.
Pansies are best planted in the garden in October or early November with a
plant spacing of 8 to 10 inches to give good bed coverage. They perform best in
full sun but will bloom in light shade. They are not heavy feeders, but do need
some nutrition to continue a good spring display. A light fertilizer application
at planting with a top dressing of 13-13-13, applied at the rate of one half
pound per 100 square feet in February will usually suffice.
Pansies will be green all winter throughout Arkansas. If the winter is
unusually dry, they must be watered. As the night temperatures increase above 65
degrees pansies begin to stretch, flower size gets smaller and the plants look
unsightly and should be replaced with summer bedding plants.
By: Gerald Klingaman, retired
Extension Horticulturist
- Ornamentals
Extension News -
November 13, 1998
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