The only pansies we’ve had past the month of June were the dead kind.
If not dead, then seriously bedraggled.
That’s why I stopped planting them each spring, and always planted other stuff instead.
Annual plants that last longer. Like blue salvia, pink snapdragons and ivy.
But our landscaper friend Blaine brought us some bulbs and pansies to put in pots in early May.
Container planting is the only gardening I do these days, so I was happier than a pig in mud.
The hyacinth and daffodils bloomed heartily and died back. But the pansies kept blooming.
And blooming.
The rain beat the flowers down, but they’d spring back soon after.
Mid-July and they’re still blooming.
So here’s to the indomitable Pansy.
Long may you live!
For fascinating facts about the pansy, or viola:
Cynthia Reyes 
Beautiful! I’m glad they worked out for you.
So pretty, I love the blue ones with their dear little kitten faces.
Wonderfully bright colors on those pansies! I especially like the blue ones. I’m glad they’re thriving for you this year Cynthia. 🙂
Cynthia, I loved Pansies and Violas when I lived further north – I think you might have some Violas there. Search Sorbet Mix Viola and see if that’s it. Some places with more shade it is easier to grow Violas.
I probably do! I’ll search.
Just remembered: I mixed them up in the pot myself – some had smaller flowers than the rest, and some had different shades too.
The smaller ones are Violas
Gorgeous potted colour. Pansies are a winter flower in NZ. It never ceases to amaze me how they thrive in the cold and wet.
I’ve never seen pansies do that. Usually the heat will knock the wind out of their sails and if you’re lucky they might bloom again in the fall.
When I lived in The Netherlands I always had pots full of pansies, almost all year round. I could not keep them happy in Canada or Ohio, maybe they care more for colder and less sunny conditions? Yours are doing fine now! xo Johanna
Beautiful, Cynthia! I just love the purple/blue 😀
Your pansies (and violas?) made me smile. So much colour, and they look so happy and healthy. Long may they last!
I love pansies very much and often grow them in pots to flower on milder days during the winter. Even more than pansies I love violas and best of all are the little tiny heart’s-ease we have growing wild. I am so pleased you have found a way of keeping your pansies flowering this summer. This is such a heart-warming post Cynthia!
Hi Claire: they have such sweet little faces, don’t they?
I didn’t find a way to keep them blooming – I think it’s the rainy and mostly cool weather this spring that did it. But hot weather is here now, so we’ll see how they do!
They flower in phases. If you trim them back and get rid of any seed-heads, give them a feed and water well they should re-flower again. I love their little faces too. I sometimes think I’ve lost all my violas and heartsease but they produce so much seed that once the conditions are right I find new plants growing all over the place. Even pansies which are a little more delicate will seed and new plants will grow.
Good to know this, Clare. Thank you.
My pleasure Cynthia 🙂
Ah, the persistence of pansies……they triumph over travails.
Except for hot weather, methinks. We may have to move them into dappled shade, as Kerry does with hers.
That seems a good plan.
I still have pansies looking good, too (in upstate New York). I moved them into dappled shade and they seem to like it.
Dappled shade, eh? I’ll see if I can find some….
I had the same experience this year and kept waiting for them to finish so I could plant my summer flowers. This week I finally couldn’t wait any longer and moved them to the back as they weren’t going to give up! Glad you can keep yours as is!
And here I thought you had maybe injected them with some steroids or something, Blaine. tee hee….
All lovely to me Cynthia ~
Well, thank you, kind lady. I must say the same about your paintings! They are indeed lovely.
Thank you Cynthia – what a beautiful thing to say. Hope you are enjoying your summer months.
Now that conveyed to me better than temperature numbers how cold it is in Toronto! I grew up where winters are cold (to me anyway – Kansas) and our pansies were always gone by May.
Hi Aggie:
And then came yesterday and today: hot, hot weather! I was going around groaning and saying: “I didn’t come to Canada for scorching weather!” Which just proves that I’m really Canadian – complaining even about the ‘nice’ warm weather.
How “hot” did it get?
Okay, alright, it’s nowhere as hot as it gets in Texas. But, with the humidity, at times 30 degrees celsius felt like 40. Which is …..hmmm… what in farenheit again? 104?
Beautiful pansies Cynthia!
A visit to your garden is always a pleasure, Cynthia. They’re beautiful.
Cynthia, I love it when a plant keeps on giving and giving. Pansies are flowers that smile. 🙂 I miss the little Johnny-Jump-ups I had at our old garden. Now you’ve got me planning a trip to a local nursery (I’ll bring my camera too). May your flower pots continue to overflow with joy all summer and fall.
Blessings ~ Wendy
I’ve never planted pansies for the same reasons as you, Cynthia. But, I’m going to remember this next year and give them a go. All of your flowers are beautiful!
Thank you! And good luck next year with the pansies.
I love pansies, but the slugs were making a meal of mine until I put broken eggshells around them. Now they’re thriving and I can’t see anything else that the slugs have eaten. I guess the eggshells drove them from the garden. 🙂 Fingers crossed.
Here’s to eggshells! And bye bye to pesky slugs. Wishing you a good day, Jean.
My mother had some very dark pansies, velvety brown. There is an amazing variety of them. A neat flower.
I have never seen dark brown pansies. They sound exquisite. wishing you a great day!
Yes, with the brightest yellow center. I hope this pansy still exists somewhere.
Have a great day you too!
I’ve never had bad experiences with pansy. Usually, you plant them in spring, and you have flowers several times a year, even if rains a lot or if it’s really dry. Maybe it’s important to buy good one at the beginning.
You could be right. I think our Canadian weather also influences its development. It’s been a hospitable summer for the most part.
I plant boatloads of pansies every spring, but usually pull them out in summer. In a cool year they can last until fall, when they become reenergized. I’ve seen them survive a mild winter as well.
Interesting. They do tend to flag once it gets hot, but I’ve never had them last into winter.
As I look at the near-dead flowers in baskets hanging on my porch, I realized I need heartier ones that can withstand my southern exposure. Any suggestions? Yours are gorgeous.
Are you fertilizing and watering them now? They need it at this stage of summer. And some plants need to be cut back so they will spring new growth.
I plant my pansy seeds in February. I love them in the garden and not sure if this happens to everyone but every year, I get a few plants that pop up all over my garden without having planted them. I think the seeds scatter and blow. Mine are all in full bloom right now as well and add the happy pop of yellow and purple all over the garden!
Me too. And this year I have the same thing happening, plus snapdragons that have grown in cracks in the concrete steps and walkway. The snaps are now blooming a lovely pink. These fell from the pots on the verandah.
What a wonderful surprise! Pansies are so pretty and have this air of youth and optimism. I like your planting of blue salvia and pink snap dragons. Do the snap dragons have a sweet fragrance? I have smelled some in the past that did.
I Like that, Theresa. An “air of youth and optimism”. Is it the smiling faces?
You can never go wrong with pansies, and nowadays, as we see in yours, they come in more colors and variations than ever. When Spring first wakes up here, but it’s still too chilly for flowers to grow, I put a big basket of silk pansies at my front door – hoping they’ll make Spring come in a little faster!
What a good idea, Jeanne. Does it work? (smile)