A plethora of pansies

Fantastic pics, Fran.
What did you use to feed the pansies ?

I've noticed loads and loads of pansies and violas for sale on the markets recently, which surprises me:- all the ones we planted back in the autumn have emerged squashed but indomitable from under the snow, and are now giving us an incredible display. Were yours planted last year, too, Fran? Such singing, brilliant colours, and they last so long, too. Wonderful little plants. Must be spring!

Lovely colours, Fran. They are putting on a show, right enough. Keep deadheading them and they'll flower on and on.
Pansies and violas are such good value for money. They flower their socks off for months and light up any funny little corner of the garden for you, with cheerful little faces. I stick them in here, there and everywhere and they seem just get on with it. No fuss, no bother.

I found some slow--release food tablet thingies and spread them amongst the troughs, TT. Only had enough for four each, but it seems to be having an effect. As these are self-watering troughs, they don't need more water, so I can't feed in with watering, unless I put the feed into the reservoir and hope they'll pick it up with the water. Think I'll try that with a couple, and feed the others with water, and see if there's a difference.

I bought these last October-ish, Gattina; they too got a bit bent under the snow (though nowhere near as bent as they would have been if they'd been your way!). I brushed off the other plants, but these were too closely planted and too small for me to risk that with them, so I left them to get on with it. Seems they did that okay, though, of course, they might have done better if I had been able to protect them a bit. But native plants should be able to cope with native weather?

I very rarely deadhead, Ojib, and then only with large flowers when I can see what I'm doing! I suppose I could, and should, but I need to feed them enough to keep them blooming and reblooming. (*s* besides I'm not sure about forcing them to do more than they would do naturally!)

It's a shame they seem to be one-off plants - they don't reproduce, or would they if given the chance? but they are amazingly sturdy plants: cheap and very cheerful, virtually idiot-proof, and when they do wake up they light the whole area

What happens with mine, Fran, is that the seed scatters itself near and in the pots, so that I find them coming up again the next year in odd places. Presumably if I collected the seed more efficiently I could grow plants on for setting out the year after. But I'm not as organised as that, I'm afraid and besides have no greenhouse or cold frame. Anyway, it's always a nice surprise to find them in the places they have chosen for themselves.

They look so healthy and beautiful. You really have plenty and I like the Greek word you are using "plethora". I used to grow them on the ground but no longer as they collapse and die suddenly, probably due do some virus in my garden soil.

Lovely pics Fran,I usualy buy so called "winter" violas but they never seem to come nice until about now.Strangely I lost a couple of potfuls over the winter this year but the ones on the front of the house seem ok.

oh, that sounds lovely, Ojib - springing up where they choose - a nice surprise when they come out of himding. That's the downside of having only pots!

lol Costas, not sure that the display merits the plural - is there such a thing as a "plethorum"? (assuming the "a" ending to be a plural of singular "um"). The word just leaped to mind when I thought, lots of pansies: I like alliteration, even if I'm not sure how to spell it!

Shame about your pansies: were any other plants affected? if it was a while ago, the problem might have sorted itself by now. Could you try again in pots?

Yeah, think these are "winter-flowering" too, Linda - maybe they're using a new defintiion of which season is which!

Odd that you lost some: were they more exposed to windchill, or excess snow?

HEY we are all confused with the seasons arnt we Fran? no reason for the plants to feel any differant.No the ones I lost were more sheltered.I planted some over some tulip bulbs for the first time too, but looking at the tulips now there would'nt have been any room in the pot anyway.......... one idea I wont try again.

smiles, I'm always a bit wary of ocercrwoding pots - lol if i had room every plant would have a pot to itself, even down to individual pansies! those crowded hanging baskets that you see outside pubs etc look veyr nice, but how healthy is it for the plants?

Odd that the more sheltered plants died - unless the shelter created or emphasised a "cold pocket".

Wow very nice mine havent come out yet lol:))))

Gorgeous!!

it might be the feed tablets kicking in at last, Mark.

thanks, Scottish - hope they'll get even better in due time

I remember you planting them out towards the end of last year. I also put in loads about the same time, probably more than in many years! I was sooo looking forward to their lovely display in the early spring but I had a really terrible infestation of a tiny little aphid that covered, literally, every square millimetre of the plants, they looked as if they had a furry grey coat over them! The green was hardly visible at all. Due to the weeks of strong cold winds I hardly put a foot on the balcony & then I didn't get down to look at them close up until it was too late & the damage was beyond repair.

They had originally been on the balcony railings, in aluminium rings, till we had the winds. Then I brought them into the balcony & set them on the floor. I pulled all my plants back further in so they might get a little extra protection. They were all crowded together which also made it difficult to see anything from a normal standing height.

This is the first year this has happened to me.

OMG, Balcony, that sounds bad. You need a REALLY cold winter to kill the little blighters off ;o))) We normally start noticing aphids about now with the warmer weather and fresh new growth, but so far (fingers crossed) not a single one. Now I written this, we'll probably get an invasion.

wow, Balcony, that sounds terrible! was it just the pansies? (as uf that wasn't enough!) I mean, did the infestation spread to other plants?j or did it stop, or was it stopped, there? I imagine that the only response is to get rid of the plants as quickly as possible before it spreads.

touch wood, i've not had aphids, or at least i've never noticed them, not the same thing at all! but until recently all my stuff was near the ground if not on it, which is exceedingly difficult to check properly, as you say, Balcomy.

one can buy ladybird eggs from various sources, and I did think about it, but the note said you shouldn't buy them unless you've already got aphids, so they've got a food supply when they hatch, so I don't think I'd be too eager to see them about!

oh, you were saying a while ago about a roaring draught that you (used to?) get indoors - didyou manage to track it down and fix it?

lost most of mine in the back garden and had to plant more so only the odd one out as yet, luckily i was growing more overwinter in the greenhouse, the ones in the front in the baskets are perfectly alright, grown from the same seed and also very shady, yours are looking lovely....

thanks Lincs. Somehow I never think of saving seeds from dead flowerheads, not even sure if there'd be any point - I'm even newer at seed-growing than I am at general gardening, so I suppose I'd lose a heck of a alot before I got the hang of it.

I've got some large seed trays, but - if I close the lid they go mouldy, and if I leave the lid open even a crack for ventilation they dry out in no time. I need to find the way round this! but sadly, out of sight etc ... I keep forgetting to check.

I am pretty new at raising stuff from seed, but having recently bought a little greenhouse, and gone mad with the little packets and the seed trays and the compost, I'm out there at 6 in the morning (- well, 7 now the clocks have changed) in my dressing gown, checking to see if anything has sprouted during the night. I'm like a kid wanting to know "Are we there yet?" every five minutes. In my overenthusiastic efforts to keep everything moist but not TOO moist (incredibly difficult), I have managed to rot my runner bean seeds, and the hardy geraniums have turned up their toes and died. So you see, Fran, checking doesn't make a lot of difference.......

Some beauties there......

true, Gattina! maybe adding a very little water a bit more often might do it - or even mist-spraying the lid so that there's moisture to go around, but not too much. it's finding the right balance. I did once grow some apple pips, but they fell over when about three inches tall, no idea what I did, or didn't do then!

thanks, Dotty!