Cool Temps; Happy Faces: Pansies for color in your fall garden

photo Pansies

Edible PansiesDid you know pansies are edible flowers?But eat only the petals, which have a "mild, wintergreen" flavor, according to Richter's Herb Specialists. You should only eat organically grown pansies, not commercially grown flowers that have been subjected to pesticides. Even so, always wash blossoms before eating them.Here are three ideas for floral food:• Spread cream cheese on a cracker and top with a whole pansy for an hors d'oeuvre.• Freeze pansies in ice cubes to add an elegant touch to a pitcher of lemonade or water.• Use candied pansies for cake/cupcake toppers.Source: Richters.com

As summer's blooms fade in backyard gardens, homeowners turn to pansies to replace the color.

Pansies may look delicate, but these colorful little bloomers are not the wusses their name implies. They are sturdy, cool-weather annuals able to stand up to the cold and bloom through the winter into spring.

The flower is 2 to 3 inches in diameter and recognizable for its bi-colored "face:" two overlapping upper petals, two side petals and a single bottom petal with a slight "beard" emanating from the flower's center.

It's not too early to buy pansies -- you'll already find them in nurseries all around town -- but it is too soon to plant them, says Beth Painter, co-owner of Green Thumb Nursery with her husband, Ray. Painter says fall planting is not "calendar-driven" in Chattanooga but "weather-driven." If these cool-weather flowers are planted now, they tend to "stretch" in the heat, making them tall and leggy, an undesirable look that won't change unless the gardener clips them back.

"People think because it's September they are supposed to do such-and-such in the garden, but that's true only if there are normal temperatures," she advises. "It's still too hot to plant pansies now, but in one or two more weeks it won't be. If buying pansies now, keep them in their pots in the flat and wait until temperatures are in the low 80s or less to plant."

Painter says one type of pansy popular with area gardeners is Majestic Giant, known for its big blooms. Newer varieties, such as Cool Wave, are being bred specifically for cooler weather. Cool Waves are becoming increasingly popular because they spread out twice the area of regular pansies and, if grown in baskets or pots, will cascade down the sides.

"I have planted pansies and violas, which are in the same family, because they are the ultimate cool-season plants for color," says Master Gardener Sue Henley. "My favorites are Helen Mount violas and Crystal Bowl and Imperial pansies. The largest pansies of all are Super Majestic Giant, which can be very impressive."

Painter says a flat of 32 pansies averages $13 to $17 in this area. Choose an area in full sun to partial shade, then plant them just deep enough to cover the rootball, she advises. Although suggested spacing is 9 to 12 inches apart, Painter says, "I tend to crowd them and plant about 6 inches apart. Pansies will bunch up and bloom better."

After planting, the flowers need a half-inch of water twice a week.

"Most people who have pansy troubles have kept them too wet," says Painter. "For example, they forget their sprinklers are running on them every day."

Choose a fertilizer with a "high middle number, as much as 10 times as high as the other two numbers," she says. Her choice: Fertilome 9-59-8 premium bedding plant food.

Their royal colors -- rich velvety purple and golds -- make good companions in containers and hanging baskets. Painter says she has potted pansies with dwarf nandinas, heuchera (aka coral bells) and feathery grasses such as pink muhly grass and dwarf miscanthus.

"Because the other primary plant for fall color is mums, which only bloom a short period of time, we like to pair pansies with something to give them a little more oomph."

Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.

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