Now is the time to get your pansies planted for great cool-season color.
You can stop in your favorite garden center now to find all kinds of colorful pansies ready for their new home landscapes. Pansies are among the best go-to annuals, and there are some great selections available in the market.
In the Mid-South, many all time favorite pansies are in the Matrix and Delta series. Matrix pansies are some of the toughest annual, cool-season color plants, which should be planted in everyone’s garden and landscape. For several years, the Matrix group of pansies has been a great choice for gardeners in Arkansas.
Matrix offers a huge range of colors and styles. Flowers with dark blotches are thought of as a more traditional pansy. For pure color, though, there are blotch-less selections that are called clear. A nice feature of the clear flowers is that the throat of each has a small, yellow eye.
Matrix pansies are also available in color-coordinated mixes instead of the traditional random color mixes.
Matrix pansies have freely branching growth habits and will reach about 8 inches tall and wide. When massed together as pansies were meant to be planted, they create an impressive, colorful landscape carpet.
Matrix pansies flower earlier, and the huge flowers are held above the foliage by strong stems. This structure allows the petals to flutter in the slightest breeze
Delta is another group of pansies that will be a sure thing in your landscape.
A favorite variety has been Delta Beaconsfield, which features brilliant yellow flowers with blotches that range in warm colors from burgundy to rusty red and orange.
Delta pansies have freely branching growth characteristics and will get 8 inches tall and quite wide. Delta pansies produce more flowers, and they bloom much earlier than other pansies. As with the Matrix pansies, Delta pansies have huge flowers that are held above the foliage by strong stems that allow the petals to flutter in a light breeze.
Be sure to maintain a consistent soil moisture, and feed pansies with a water-soluble fertilizer, even during the winter months. Pansies are a great choice for winter flowering as the plants can freeze solid and thaw with little damage. In response to the cold, the leaves will be tinged purple.
When the plants freeze, the flowers are nipped back, but once it gets a little warmer, the flowering gets revved up again.
Matrix and Delta pansies will give non-stop color to get you through the winter. The short, sturdy stems resist stretching, which means the plants will look good long after the days begin warming up in the spring.
Buy your Matrix and Delta pansies now so you get the best selection. In no time, your flower beds and containers will be bright and beautiful for months to come, and they will continue looking good into spring.
Pansies brighten autumn gardens
