Pansies - beautiful, like in a fairy tale!

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Among the early and flowering cultivated plants, pansies occupy one of the first places in floriculture. The variety of their colors and color combinations is simply incredible: from pure white to almost black with all kinds of shades of yellow, blue, red. In the center of the flower there is often a spot of original shape and color. In this article we will talk about the most popular types and varieties of pansies, as well as share the experience of growing these beautiful flowers.

Plant description

There are two most popular types of this plant - Tricolor violet and Wittroka violet. They differ in the shape of the flower. F. Wittrock has larger flowers, and F. tricolor is a small-flowered plant.

Pansies, or Violet tricolor (Viola tricolor) - a herbaceous plant common in Europe and the temperate regions of Asia; species of the genus Violet of the family Violet.
Violet wittrock, or garden pansies (Víola × wittrokiana) - a herbaceous plant of hybrid origin of the family Violet. Under this name, numerous varieties and cultivar groups obtained with the participation of tricolor violets (Viola tricolor), Altai (Viola altaica) and yellow (Viola lutea) and some other species.

In ancient times, pansies were credited with the property of enchanting love: if only the juice of a plant sprinkles the eyes of a sleeping person forever and wait for his awakening, he will fall in love forever. The French and Poles give pansies as a keepsake for separation. And in England, a tradition was born: a young man, shy of declaring his love, just send this dried flower to his beloved and write his name.

Pansies are perennials with a height of 15 to 30 cm, usually they are grown as biennials. Their spectacular flowers repeat the shape of violets. Bushes at the beginning of the growing season are compact, then they become sprawling; the main shoot is erect, the root system is fibrous. In the axils of the leaves of the pansies, flower stalks form, the ends of which are crowned by single large flowers with a diameter of up to 7 cm. The special value of pansies lies in early and abundant flowering. In central Russia, they bloom in late April.

Numerous varieties of large-flowered violets, a complex hybrid obtained in the course of many years of selection work, are widespread in the culture. Many modern hybrids are heat resistant and have the ability to bloom throughout the summer.

Cultivation and care

Use pansies for an early spring two-shift floral design. In the summer, when it loses decorativeness, it is replaced by pilots. But depending on the timing of sowing and accepted agricultural technology, you can get flowering in the summer and late autumn. In this regard, pansies are very plastic, undemanding and easy to culture plant.

Pansies are propagated mainly by seeds and green cuttings. Depending on the intended flowering time, sowing is done at different times. To obtain early spring plentiful flowering, seeds are sown in the summer of the previous year.

In the northern and northwestern zones, for example, near Leningrad and in Murmansk, sowing seeds in open ground (nurseries) is carried out in the second decade of July so that the plants do not develop much, are not too large, and do not bloom in the fall.

Pansies are winter-hardy plants, but in the Northwest, and sometimes in the middle lane, they freeze and wither. More often this happens in damp places and when the timing of sowing is violated. If the seeds are sown in late May or early June, the seedlings bloom in the fall and outgrow. Such plants go into wintering already weakened, they poorly tolerate winter and more often wither away.

Therefore, well-developed, but not overgrown and not weakened by autumn blossoms, plants better tolerate overwintering, do not vomit, and bloom well in the spring of next year. In later, belated crops, the plants go into the winter insufficiently strong, little developed. They winter worse and bloom later in spring.

A snowy winter with severe frosts affects wintering of pansies. Spring is especially fatal, when snow melts very early, thaws begin, and at night - severe frosts. Therefore, it is advisable to make snow retention on ridges with pansies. They are poorly tolerated by low damp places and especially spring stagnation of water.

Propagation of pansies by seeds

To obtain seedlings, sowing is carried out in seedlings or on well-treated ridges in rows, seeds are not sown in a row in a row, seedlings appear on the 6-14th day. Normal care: watering, cultivating row-spacings. Shoots are planted on other ridges or nurseries, where they should winter. The distance when picking is done 20x20 cm. The picking must be done in a timely manner, avoiding stretching and overgrowing of seedlings.

Early next spring, the plants quickly begin to grow and bloom in early spring. To accelerate flowering, beds can be covered with film in early spring. In the flowering state, pansies are transplanted into flower beds. To decorate windows and balconies, they are planted in pots or in flower boxes.

Care of planting in the places of registration consists in systematic weeding and cultivation. If necessary, water and pest control. It is useful to feed seedlings with ammonium nitrate and add superphosphate (20-40 g per 1 m2). Pansies cannot stand fresh manure. To prolong flowering in the summer, it is necessary to remove all faded flowers in order to delay the development of the fruit, since when the seeds are seeded, the plants stop flowering.

On poor, dry, sandy soils, pansies quickly become smaller, especially varieties with gigantic flowers. It is necessary to apply organic fertilizers in the form of compost and humus (5 kg per 1 m2) on such soils; fresh manure is not recommended. In a sunny place, pansy flowers form large and bright. In partial shade, they bloom a little longer, but poorer, the flowers are smaller and not so bright.

In the summer, when pansies bloom and lose their decorativeness, they dig them out and replace them with summers.

To obtain seeds from the number of digged plants, the most typical strong compact specimens are selected and planted on seed ridges (they transfer easily in the flowering state). Watering is necessary.

Given that pansies are cross-pollinated plants, when planting them on seeds, it is necessary to observe the spatial isolation of one variety from another. This will allow you to get pure grade seeds. Seed collection should begin when the capsules turn yellow, otherwise they will quickly crack and the seeds will spill out.

If desired, pansies can be conducted as an annual culture. For this, sowing of seeds is carried out in February-March in a greenhouse or room in a bowl, dive boxes. In April, they dive into greenhouses, and in May they land in the ground. During spring sowing, pansies exhibit prolonged flowering in the summer of that year. But in terms of the abundance and size of flowers, the annual culture is much inferior to plants grown from last year’s summer sowing.

How to properly plant pansies for seedlings, read in article 5 bright summers that need to be sown in early February.

For autumn flowering, pansies are sown in April-May, on the 55-70th day they bloom.

Vegetative propagation

Of great interest is the vegetative method of propagation of hybrid varieties of pansies - green cuttings in the open ground. It is simple, effective and at the same time allows you to keep the variety clean, get a lot of planting material in one summer. Cuttings are taken from May to July in 2-3 doses. All green leaf shoots with 2-3 knots are suitable. To do this, in the shaded, slightly damp places (under the canopy of trees) make low ridges. They are densely packed and watered.

The cuttings are planted to a depth of 0.5 cm tightly, so that the leaves of one cuttings are in contact with the leaves of another. 400 pieces are planted per square meter. After planting, spray with water.

In the early days, in order to avoid wilting, the planted cuttings should be covered with paper moistened with water, creating a more humid atmosphere, which contributes to faster rooting. Care consists in daily watering, spraying, weeding. After 3-4 weeks, the cuttings give 95-100% rooting. With early (May, June) cuttings, plants bloom in the summer or fall of that year. Later cuttings give abundant flowering in the spring of next year.

Rooted cuttings are transplanted in the fall to ridges or flower beds. With very late cuttings (August), rooted plants are best left for wintering at the cuttings, covering them with a leaf for the winter. Plants should be planted in flower beds next spring.

Propagation of hybrid pansies with green cuttings provides a rejuvenation of plants that tend to grow strongly in the third year to the detriment of flowering. About 10 cuttings can be cut from one uterine plant in one step, and 30-45 pcs in summer.

The best varieties of pansies

Small flowered varieties

The Blue Boy - flowers of blue-blue color, with a diameter of 3-4 cm;
"Snow Maiden" - flowers are white, 3-4 cm in diameter.
"Little Red Riding Hood" - the flowers are bright red, 3.5-4 cm in diameter.

Large-flowered varieties

The Ice King - the flower is white with a faint yellowish-green tint. On the bottom three petals are purple spots, the edges are even. A flower on a long stalk (8-10 cm), up to 5 cm in diameter. Bush height 20 cm.
"Winter sun" - the flower is bright yellow, on the three lower petals there are dark velvet-brown spots, the edges are uneven. A flower on a long stalk (8-10 cm), 5 cm in diameter. Bush height 20 cm.
"Heavenly Queen" - the color of the flower when blooming is almost pure blue, in the sun it burns out and acquires a light lilac-blue hue. The flower reaches 4.5-5 cm in diameter. The edges of the petals are even, the peduncle is long - 9-11 cm. The height of the bush is 20 cm.
The Magic of Marta - The flower is dark purple, with a full bloom of almost black color. The petals are velvety, the edges are even. The flower is 5-5.5 cm in diameter, the peduncle is long (9-10 cm). Bush height 20 cm.
"Jupiter" - at the base of the flower, the upper petals are purple-violet, whitish at the top. The color of the three lower petals is also purple-violet, the edges of the petals are even, the pedicels are short (7-8 cm). Bush height 20 cm.
"Evening Heat" - the flower is brownish-red, on the lower three petals there are darker spots in comparison with the main background, the edges of the petals are slightly wavy, the peduncle is long (9-10 cm). The flower reaches 5-5.5 cm in diameter. The bush is low 10-15 cm.

Gigantic varieties

Blue - the flower is violet-blue, dark purple spots on the three lower petals, the edges of the petal are even, the flower is 6-7 cm in diameter, on a long peduncle (10-11 cm). Bush height 25 cm.
"White" - the flower is white with a faint yellowish-greenish tint, reaches 6-7 cm in diameter, the edges of the petals are slightly wavy, the peduncle is long (9-10 cm). The bush is 20 cm high.
Golden yellow - the flower is solid, golden yellow, reaches 6-7 cm in diameter, the edges of the petals are even, the peduncle is long (10-12 cm). Bush height 20 cm.

Possible growing problems

Of the pansies of pansies, the eyes can affect aphids, scoops, against which appropriate preparations are used. Of the diseases in violation of agricultural technology, a black leg, root and stem rot, spotting, powdery mildew can develop.

Due to its unpretentiousness and abundant flowering, pansies are grown on flowerbeds and in balcony drawers, decorate planting of bulbous flowers and alpine slides. With proper care, they will delight you with their flowering from early spring to late autumn.

There is a legend that, after many years of waiting, the faithful girl Anyuta, who once spent her fiancé defending her native side, who never returned, turned into this flower. And now, like many years ago, there are pansies near the road, with a hope "peering" into the distance.