Start growing
Easy; needs rich, moist soil. Keep well-watered but not soggy.
GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL
Pansy
Viola × wittrockiana
Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.
THE PLANT NOTEBOOK
Pansy care, from seed onward.
- Botanical name
- Viola × wittrockiana
- Common names
- Heartsease, Garden Pansy
- Family
- Violaceae
- Genus
- Viola
- Species
- V. x wittrockiana
Growing with your kit
The Seeds In A Cup® kit focuses on 'Winter Bloom' – showing kids how these 'faces' can handle the cold.
Propagation
By seed.
Seasonal growth & harvest
Blooms best in cool weather (spring and fall); will often survive a light freeze and bloom under snow.
Growing conditions
Cool climate gardens; sun to partial shade.
Weather & tolerances
Highest frost tolerance of all bedding plants; zero heat tolerance (die back in summer).
Pests & plant health
Slugs and downy mildew.
Plant safety
Safe for consumption.
Botanical features
A small, colorful perennial often grown as an annual. Flowers have five overlapping petals and 'faces' created by dark central marks.
Varieties
‘Matrix’, ‘Delta’, ‘Cool Wave’.
Garden & everyday uses
Premature spring color. flowers are completely edible and used as garnishes
Native range & distribution
Global garden hybrid.
Conservation
Widespread garden staple.
Name origins
From the French ‘pensée’ (thought), because the flower looks like a face mid-thought.
History
Popularized in the early 19th century by English growers crossing various species of wild Viola.