Hello dear friends
With the onset of warmth, in addition to petunia plantations, very cute and bright low plants appear in almost all city flower beds and adjoining flower beds. Despite the fact that the color range of these little beauties is very extensive, even a child can easily recognize them among the general variety of colors.
They are commonly known as different names, some call them pansies, others are accustomed to the name viola for this plant, and still others know it as the violet Vitrokk. Pansies are very unpretentious, and due to their miniature size, they are suitable for growing not only in open ground, but also serve as a wonderful decoration for any city balcony. With proper care pansies are able to bloom with the onset of the first warm days and until autumn.
You can grow pansies both with the help of seeds and the usual way of plant cuttings.
How to grow pansies from seeds
I recommend planting pansies seeds in pre-prepared boxes in winter, so that by the beginning summer season receive quality seedlings and good bright flower garden already in early spring... In this case, sowing seeds should be done in moist soil in winter. Before the first shoots appear, the boxes are covered with glass or foil and put away in a dark place. Periodically, you need to carefully water the seeds with a spray bottle and air the crops. When the first shoots appear on the surface, boxes with pansies are placed on sunny windowsills. After the seedlings get a little stronger, they should be transplanted into individual containers for further favorable development. 
plants. With the establishment of positive temperatures outside, young plants can be transplanted into open ground... At the end of flowering, bolls with seeds are formed on the plants, which, when they reach a pale yellow or white hue, can be collected and used in the future as high-quality seed. At correct collection and storage, the seeds of pansies are suitable for use and do not lose their germination for three years.
You can also get a good result when growing pansies from seeds when sowing seeds directly into open ground. In this case good flowering will be provided only the next year after planting the seeds. Sowing seeds in open ground should be carried out no earlier than the end of June to ensure next spring beautiful flower garden... After sowing, the first shoots usually appear in about a couple of weeks, then after fifteen days, the matured plants must be transplanted into a freer area, and at the end of August, the plants can be transplanted again to the place of the future spring flower bed. When planting pansies, you need to keep the distance between the plants about twenty or twenty-five centimeters apart.
How to grow pansies by grafting
Cutting pansies can be carried out both in autumn and spring. If you carry out the grafting procedure correctly in the spring, then by the end of summer you can get flowering plants... Autumn cuttings will provide blooming flower bed only next spring.
Green shoots with several nodes are cut from a pre-selected flower bush, after which it is necessary to plant them at a sufficiently close distance to each other and not too deep. If the site chosen for planting cuttings 
is on the open and sunny place, then the planted plants need to provide additional shelter from aggressive sunlight. The soil at the planting site must be regularly moistened, and the cuttings themselves should be sprayed with water, about 30 days after planting, the cuttings will begin to form roots. The cuttings procedure allows not only to rejuvenate adult flower bushes, but also to get a very quality material for planting. And varieties correctly selected for the flowering time will allow you to create a flower bed with continuous flowering with early spring and until the very late autumn days.
Flower bed care when growing pansies
Pansies are not a very demanding plant to care for, you need to water it a couple of times a week, and when hot temperatures are set, you can water it daily, but at the same time avoid stagnation excess moisture in the flowerbed.
Plant feeding must be carried out not only during the period of bud formation, but also during abundant flowering... As a top dressing, it is better to choose various complex mineral fertilizers.
So that the flower bed does not lose its decorative effect as long as possible, it is necessary to remove withered inflorescences and weeds in time.
Pansies will be a wonderful decoration for your favorite garden, and when proper care these plants will delight you with bright flowers for more than one year. See you, friends!
Viola can be sown directly into open ground, but it is often grown through seedlings. Sowing at home or in a greenhouse allows you to carefully care for each seedling, which means fewer seedlings die, which saves seeds. This is important if you have few seeds - for example, you bought a beautiful, expensive variety. Also, pansies are sown on seedlings when they want to get abundant flowering in the very first summer. For example, when growing viola in balcony boxes and in flowerpots, it is necessary that it bloom magnificently already in the year of sowing, which means that it is necessary to sow earlier than in open ground.
When to sow pansies for seedlings
Sowing time for seedlings in middle lane- from 1 to 10 March.
Viola soil mix
The land mixture for sowing can be used ready-made, purchased at the store. To help the seedling roots develop better, add a little washed sand to the purchased soil. You can prepare the soil for viola seedlings yourself. Mix equal amounts of turf or garden soil, humus and sand. Stir the mixture and sieve. To prevent seedlings from being overwhelmed, steam the prepared mixture in a double boiler for an hour. Steaming will destroy not only pathogens, but also weed seeds.
Fill a sowing dish with damp potting soil and compact slightly. Spread the viola seeds evenly over the soil surface. The easiest way to do this is with a small piece of paper. 
You need to water the crops using a fine spray. Moisten the soil surface liberally. 
Cover the bowl with glass or place it in a clean plastic bag.
Pansy seeds do best in the dark, so place the bowl in a warm, dark place. At a temperature of + 22 ° C, viola shoots appear 7-10 days after sowing. After emergence, place the bowl in a sunny place.
Make sure that the soil remains moderately moist at all times, and that drops after watering do not remain on the leaves. Remove the shelter a week after germination. 
Picking viola seedlings
When the seedlings of pansies have 2 true leaves, it's time to dive. 
You can dive a viola into a box according to the 5x5 centimeters scheme, since it tolerates a transplant well at almost any stage of development, even during flowering. But such seedlings after planting in the ground will require more attention, because when planting from a box, the roots of the plants are damaged, and they need to recover. If you have enough space on the windowsill at home, then it is better to dive the pansies into separate pots.
The composition of the soil for picking is the same as for sowing viola, only there is no need to sift and steam the soil. Add to the soil mixture 1 tablespoon of mineral fertilizer (Nitrofoska, Azofoska) per 2 liters of the mixture. Mix well. Fill pots with it and condense a little. Plant pansy seedlings, one in each pot. When planting, make sure that the roots are freely placed in the hole and do not bend when filling it. 
If the roots do not fit in the hole, then pinch them. Too elongated seedlings when diving, deepen to the cotyledonous leaves. Compact the soil around each seedling.
Water gently. 
Start watering from the edge of the pot. If, as a result of watering, the soil has settled heavily, you can add it, but do not cover the cotyledon leaves.
Place the seedlings in a bright place. It is enough to maintain the temperature at the level of + 15 ... + 17. Monitor soil moisture. You need to feed the viola once every two weeks with a solution of mineral fertilizers for seedlings. With the onset of warm weather, seedlings can be placed in a greenhouse or on a balcony: where the temperature will not drop below 0 ° C. If you do not have this opportunity, then 2 weeks before disembarking to a permanent place, start gradually accustoming her to the open air. In warm weather, keep pansy pots in partial shade to avoid leaf burns.
With proper care, by the end of May, the viola blooms and is ready for planting in a permanent place. 
Planting viola in the ground
The soil for planting viola does not have to be fertile, but it is important that it is loose and breathable. Any cultivated garden soil will do. If the soil on your site is clayey and heavy, then fill it with peat and sand and apply a complete mineral fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 30-40 g per 1 sq. M. Dig well. 
The scheme for planting viola in a flower garden is 20 x 20 cm.If you plant flowers in one row, then the distance between the plants can be reduced to 15 cm.Pansy seedlings are planted in holes with a small (about 1 cm) deepening of the root collar. 
After planting, water the seedlings well. 
Further care consists in regular feeding, loosening and watering. 
With a lack of moisture, viola quickly ends flowering, so the soil must be constantly kept moist. In order for pansies to continue to bloom for as long as possible, set seeds must be removed in a timely manner, especially for plants planted in boxes and containers. When planted in the ground, viola produces self-seeding. The dried bolls crack and shoot the seeds at some distance, so the next year after planting, the blooming viola can be found in the most unexpected places.
When the viola bushes have faded, cut them off, leaving 4-5 cm. After 2-3 weeks, new shoots will form from the dormant buds and flowering will resume, it will be especially abundant in the spring of next year.
Pansies from the Violet family are an early flowering plant, known to many since childhood. In scientific literature, this short flower up to 30 cm in height is called viola.
V wildlife Violas amusing passers-by with colorful flowers have about 500 species.
Among them, the most popular in culture are:
- Viola tricolor is a wild one- or two-year-old herb, which is popularly called wild pansies. Compact bushes are represented by rosette rounded leaf plates and flowers of white, blue, purple, yellow tones, forming on elongated peduncles. Flowering occurs from mid-spring to early autumn.
- Horned viola is a perennial garden form of violet that does not lose its decorative qualities over a long period of time. Species varieties are distinguished by good winter hardiness. Flowers with different colors, pleasing to the eye from mid-spring to autumn frosts, have a fairly large diameter up to 5 cm and a pleasant aroma. Due to the slight cross-pollination with other violets, which can threaten with the loss of varietal traits, the species should not be planted next to the tricolor viola or Vittrock's viola. Famous varieties: Alba, Boughton Blue, Columbine, Hansa.
- Viola Wittroca is the most common hybrid that can be easily purchased at a flower shop. He is the garden form of pansies. A bush of this type of viola is formed from erect shoots up to 30 cm high, covered with oval leaves with jagged edges. Irregular shape flowers with a diameter of up to 11 cm are painted in various, rarely monochromatic, colors with strokes and specks. Some series deserve special attention: "Swiss Giants", "Bambini", "Rococo".
- Viola Sororia - bush type with early flowering in April-May. Flowers of small diameter rise above the heart-shaped leaf plates. Popular varieties: Ruba, Albiflora, Freeckles.
- Viola Altai is a perennial up to 20 cm in height with flowers, the petals of which are painted blue or white with blue stripes, shaded with a bright yellow speck. A frost-resistant variety that can bloom from mid-spring to the very frost.
- Viola Williams is a brightly blooming hybrid with small-diameter flowers that lack a characteristic "face". In culture, the plant is represented by both bush and ampel forms, which are often used in hanging pots or in flowerpots on the balcony. Famous varieties: Pearl Waterfall, Bengal Fire, Amber Kiss, Froze Chocolate.
Growing flower seedlings from seeds
In order for the florist to witness early and abundant flowering, in regions with a temperate climate, preference should be given seedling method growing pansies.
Sowing quality seeds purchased at specialized points is carried out at the end of winter as follows:
- The seeds are soaked for half an hour in a fungicide solution for disinfection, and then for several hours in a growth stimulator.
- The seedling box is filled with pre-calcined leafy soil and rotted compost.
- The seed is spread over the moistened surface of the soil mixture.
- The container is covered with foil and moved to a warm, shaded place.
- 2 weeks after the emergence of seedlings, the seedlings gradually begin to accustom themselves to life without a film.
- A week later protective film removed completely.
- When 3 true leaves are formed, the seedlings dive into a separate bowl, where they are grown before planting in open ground.
Planting viola in open ground
To ensure the abundant and long-lasting flowering of the viola, it is necessary to responsibly approach all the nuances of planting work, paying attention to the choice of place and soil.
Planting time
Planting hardened seedlings in open ground, as a rule, is carried out in the second half of May, when the threat of recurrent frosts has passed.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
Pansies can grow in both sunny and shady areas. However, the "sweet spot" will be a well-lit area with light shading, which will ensure the brightness of flowers and a long flowering period. Cute bushes with cheerful "muzzles" develop well on fertile, light soils with a loose structure. Before planting, the soil in the selected area is dug up with the simultaneous introduction of peat, humus and sand, which will help to ensure all the required indicators of the soil composition.
Important! Poor soils can cause a loss of decorativeness of the plant, which is manifested by fading, shrinking flowers and is especially important for varietal hybrids.
Landing technology
Planting flowers in open ground is carried out according to the standard scheme:
- In the prepared area, holes are dug, taking into account the root system of the seedlings and a distance of 10 cm from each other.
- A bag of sand is added to each depression, which acts as a drainage.
- Then pansy bushes are placed on it and sprinkled with earth.
- The plants are watered and the soil around them is mulched.
Pansies: outdoor care
Pansy flowers are unpretentious and it is a pleasure to take care of them.
Correct watering schedule
A moisture-loving plant does not tolerate stagnant water, so it is necessary to establish the correct watering schedule. In the summer heat, for the viola root system, which is located in the arable layer (up to 20 cm), it will be enough to receive a small portion of water at intervals of a day.
Attention! Moisture deficiency negatively affects the decorative state of the culture: shoots disintegrate along the ground to retain moisture on the surface of the leaf plates, and the flowers turn pale.
How to care for the soil?
So that the soil retains a loose structure that provides free air access to the roots, after frequent water treatments it is required to loosen it slightly, breaking the upper, airtight crust. Also, to prevent rapid evaporation of moisture, you can cover the soil around the bushes with a layer of mulch from peat or sawdust.
Fertilizing and fertilizing flowers
Since pansies prefer fertile soils, they also respond perfectly to systematic feeding.
Additional nutrition is provided by both root and foliar method:
- At the beginning of the growing season, the plants are fed with complex mineral fertilizers containing nitrogen.
- To prolong the abundant flowering, superphosphate is applied under the bushes, which can also be added during soil preparation.
Carefully! You cannot use manure as fertilizer for viola, which does not like the increased fat content of the soil.
Wintering Pansies
A relatively winter-hardy culture is not always able to survive the low-snow winter, typical for risky farming zones in the Middle Lane, without outside help.
To cultivate pansies as a perennial, you must:
- avoid high-lying lowlands groundwater when landing;
- protect plants during the winter with a covering material;
- carry out snow retention in the beds.
Protection against diseases and pests
Among the main enemies that often attack and infect the culture, the following stand out:
- Spider mite. When a microscopic insect appears, the plants are treated with an insecticide solution.
- Gall nematode. Pre-planting soil cultivation with the introduction of sodium nitrate will help protect the bushes from settling with a pest.
- Smut. You can prevent the development of the disease by pre-sowing seed treatment.
- Leaf spot. At the first manifestations of the disease, plantings are sprayed with a copper-containing fungicide.
- Gray rot. On initial stages diseases, normalization of the irrigation regime will help to suspend its development.
Reproduction of Pansies
Growing pansies is possible not only from seeds. The culture can also propagate vegetatively.
Cuttings
This breeding method is also a fairly popular technique:
- Long shoots are bent to the soil and placed in a pre-prepared groove.
- Layers are fixed in the groove with staples and sprinkled with soil.
- A month later, roots begin to develop from the internodes.
- After full rooting, the shoots are separated from the parent specimen and planted in a permanent place.
Garden decoration - where is the best place to plant Pansies?
Early flowering compact bushes have found their application in the design of landscape gardening compositions.
They are often used for decoration:
- garden paths;
- hanging pots;
- alpine slides;
- lawn lawns with bright greenery;
- flower beds and a bed, where luxurious ornaments are created with the help of flowers.
Thus, pansies, distinguished by their beauty and early flowering, will become wonderful decoration garden. Moreover, planting and caring for such an elegant and bright pet will not give a florist a lot of trouble.
Pansies are scientifically called the violet Vitrokka. They are grown on summer cottages decorating flower beds, as well as on balconies. The plant is unpretentious: it can be transplanted even during the flowering period and planted in early spring, as soon as the snow disappears. Pansies bloom early and bloom profusely. If everything is done correctly, then their variegated flowers will delight the eye from spring to late autumn.
Varieties of Pansies
Small-flowered. The diameter of small varieties of flowers usually does not exceed 4 cm. These include such types of viola as Little Red Riding Hood with bright red flowers or Blue Boy with delicate flowers blue tint.
Large-flowered. Viola bushes of a large-flowered variety reach a height of up to 20 cm.Their flowers are usually quite large, in average 5 cm in diameter.They are located on long pedicels with a height of 8 to 11 cm.This variety includes such species as the Heavenly Queen, Evening Heat, Winter Sun, Jupiter and many others.
Gigantic. The height of the pansy bush of gigantic varieties can reach 25 cm. Their flowers are large, sometimes more than 6 cm in diameter. Pedicels are as long as in large-flowered varieties. Although sometimes they can reach 12 cm. The gigantic varieties include Viola Blue, Golden yellow and White.
Perennials or annuals?
Pansies can be grown as annuals and perennials. It all depends on climatic conditions in which plants are grown and labor that you are willing to put into.
These flowers are quite frost-hardy, but even in central Russia they are not always able to survive cold winter.—- Particularly vulnerable are the plants that were planted late, did not bloom well and left weakened before winter. Viola does not tolerate wintering well in winters with little snow; spring thaws with subsequent night frosts are especially dangerous for flowers.
In order for the viola not to freeze, it is necessary to avoid low damp places for planting, cover the flowers for the winter with material, and in winter carry out snow retention in a flowerbed with pansies. In order for the viola to bloom earlier, it is better to close the flower bed with foil in early spring. Growing an annual viola is a more predictable process.
Pansy landing
Before sowing, it is recommended to soak viola seeds in a solution of "Zircon" or "Epin" for a day. The substrate is suitable ready-made, intended for growing violets, you can easily buy it at any flower shop. The further procedure is as follows:
- Pour the soil mixture into a container and level thoroughly.
- Cut grooves in the soil, spread the viola seeds in them and sprinkle them with ground rubbed in the palms of the earth. Water the crops gently.
- Cover the container with foil or glass and store in a cool (about + 15 ° C) place.
The first shoots will appear in 7-10 days. When the viola germinates, the box with crops, freed from the shelter, is placed under diffused lighting and the ambient temperature is lowered to + 10 ° C. Seedling care involves regular moderate watering and feeding with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers every 15 days. In the phase of the first pair of true leaves, the grown bushes dive into separate pots, and after 2-3 weeks are transferred to a permanent place of growth. 
In open ground, the plants are planted in pre-prepared shallow holes, dripped with earth and watered. In order to avoid thickening of the plantings between adjacent specimens, it is recommended to maintain a distance of 15–20 cm. The culture transfers the transplant painlessly and takes root in a new place in just a couple of days. Pansies grown through seedlings bloom in late May - early June.
Choosing a place for pansies
For my viols, I choose a light partial shade. In the shade, the flowers quickly become smaller and stop blooming, and in the bright sun, and even with our sultry and dry summer, they are hot, then the plants are sluggish, and the tips of the leaves begin to turn yellow.
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Even funny eyes do not like too wet soil, they do not tolerate dampness, so it is better not to plant them in the lowlands.
Sandy, clayey, heavy soil is not suitable for these flowers. On a fertile, loose and moisture-absorbing viola will bloom longer and require less maintenance. 
Preparing the soil for pansies
Viola grows well on loose, drained, organic-rich soils. The distance between seedlings should be within 15 - 20 cm for compact and 25 - 30 cm for other varieties. When placed in containers and hanging baskets for pansies, any ready-made garden soil with a small pinch of extended-release complex fertilizer. When planting seedlings, make sure that the top level of the earthy coma of each plant coincides with the level of the ground at the planting site.
Sowing pansy seeds
In conditions of the middle lane, pansies are best grown as a biennial.
The seeds should be sown in the summer of the previous year. Best term sowing early July. With a later sowing, the seedlings turn out to be a little bushy and do not have time to get stronger before winter. At early dates sowing, seedlings outgrow, bloom in the fall and go to overwinter weakened, often weed out. Seeds can be sown on ridges in rows, sparsely.
Seedlings appear in 6-12 days. They should be unpacked. In this state, the seedlings overwinter. In spring, plants can be transplanted into flower beds. Feeding area 25 × 25 cm.
Pansies can also be used as an annual crop. To do this, the seeds must be sown in March in a room or greenhouse, picking seedlings should be carried out in April, and planted in the ground in May.
With this method, the plants bloom longer, but less abundantly, the flowers become smaller. For autumn bloom seeds should be sown in April May.
Pansies care
The most important thing is watering. Its intensity depends on the type of flower. Plants with large, strongly colored flowers need a lot of moisture, so you need to water more often and more abundantly. But you can only water when the soil is slightly dry. If the soil remains wet, even if the flowers have not been watered for a long time, you do not need to do this - the roots are guaranteed to rot from stagnant water. In the summer, so that the pansies do not suffer from the heat, it is useful to spray them every morning. 
Experienced flower growers say that it is not necessary to water the viola every day (except in very hot weather), but every other day. After watering or rain, be sure to loosen the soil in the area with viola. Pansies are very disliked sharp drops temperatures. If there is little snow in winter, with very low temperatures the plants will freeze. Flowers can also die in spring - in those days when there are frosts at night, and the sun warms up very much during the day.
In order to prevent the death of flowers in winter, you can additionally cover them with snow, in the spring you can protect plants from frost using the usual plastic film, equipping from it a kind of greenhouse for the night. When the pansies begin to bloom profusely, faded buds must be removed from the bushes in a timely manner. This will help to appear and bloom new faster and will not allow fruiting - after it the pansies no longer bloom.
Caring for pansies during flowering
Pansies will actively develop and bloom if fed periodically. Complex mineral fertilizers are used to feed these flowers. Fertilizing these flowers with organic ingredients is strictly prohibited. During the period of abundant flowering, in summer, it is necessary to remove faded buds on the bushes in a timely manner in order to allow new ones to bloom. In addition, this procedure will prevent the fruiting of plants, after which the pansies stop blooming. 
To grow them successfully, planting seedlings at home is carried out in nutrient soil. On a poor and sandy land, plants will become smaller, losing their decorative effect. You can improve the composition of such soil using plant compost. Five kilograms of the substance are introduced per 1m2. Pansies are very fond of the sun, so they can only be grown in a well-lit place. Under this condition, the plants will bloom for a long time and profusely. In a shaded place, due to a lack of light, the bushes become pale, and the flowers on them become small. After the end of the flowering period, spring varieties are dug up, and summer species are planted in their place.
To obtain seeds, healthy and compact spring bushes are selected at home. They are planted on a seedbed and watered periodically. Since pansies are cross-pollinated plants, a certain space must be observed when planting different varieties. This allows you to get seeds with all the characteristics of the mother bush.
After the seed pod turns yellow, collect the seeds. It is very important not to be late here, because after ripening, the capsule cracks, and the seeds fall into the ground.
Feeding Pansies
Top dressing for pansies must be applied regularly, namely, they should be carried out at least twice a season. The main feeding is carried out when the plant is gaining buds, with fertilizers such as nitrophoska and Agricolka. Subsequent feeding is done during rapid flowering plants using a fertilizer called Agricolka-7.
To feed pansies, you need mineral fertilizers with their constituent potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus and other trace elements. After planting, the seedlings need to be fertilized with superphosphate, nitrate. It is prohibited to add fresh manure to the soil where pansies live.
From the moment the temperatures drop, the amount of dressing is reduced and, preparing the plant for wintering, the flowerbed is covered with sawdust, peat or other insulation.
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Reproduction of pansies
Propagation by cuttings is important to preserve the variety you like for the next year. Also, from one mother plant, you can get many young Anyutoks from cuttings. 
For cutting pansies, take apical cuttings with 2-3 nodes. Planted in a dark place with moist soil. Planting depth 0.5 cm, planting cuttings should be dense. At 1 m? 400 cuttings. Pansy cuttings root perfectly in water and soil. Cover with cellophane to preserve high humidity air. Rooting occurs after 3-4 weeks.
If cuttings are made in May and June, such plants bloom in August of the same year. When they are cuttings later, then the annihilation from the cuttings bloom next year. Such plants are covered and left in the garden to winter.
Cutting helps not only to propagate the hybrid, but also to rejuvenate the planting. Since at the age of 3 years, Pansies tend to outgrow to the detriment of flowering. 
What problems may arise
If you notice that the flowers have begun to shrink, then the reason is in depleted soil. Submit organic fertilizer at the rate of 5 kg per sq. m.
Pansies can be overcome by aphids, but they are easy to deal with. The store has special means for this, and such folk remedy, how soap solution is still relevant in the fight against this pest. In a sunny place, the flowers of pansies are larger and brighter, but the flowering period is shorter than that of pansies, which grow in partial shade. Although their flowers will be smaller, the flowering period is longer.
If you want to collect seeds from your own plants, then transplant the strongest bushes to a separate (seed) bed and do not forget to water it. Let me remind you that pansies are a self-pollinating plant, so if you don't want to mix varieties, plant them away from each other. Seed boxes are considered ripe when purchased yellow and turned to the top (in August). But do not be late, these boxes have one feature - to crack arbitrarily.
When the boxes are collected, take out the seeds, dry them and send them to be stored in the refrigerator.
That's all the wisdom of growing this delicate, touching flower. If you have anything to add or dispute, welcome to the comments. And do not forget to click one or more social media buttons where you are registered. Share information with your friends and family.
The cultivation of flowers with such a poetic name is widespread in our gardens, both in flower beds and in flower pots and containers.
Pansies (another name - viola) in ancient times were attributed magical property- to bewitch love. It was believed that one has only to spray the juice of this plant on the eyelids of a sleeping person, then wait for his awakening and the one whom he sees first and becomes the object of his adoration.
The French and Poles usually present these flowers to their loved ones during the upcoming long separation.
They are perennials and are often grown as biennials or annuals.
Together with other annuals, such as or nasturtium, they perfectly decorate any garden, terrace, balcony.
Perennials or annuals?
Pansies can be grown as annuals and perennials. It all depends on the climatic conditions in which the plants are grown and the labor that you are willing to put in.
These flowers are quite frost-hardy, but even in central Russia they are not always able to survive the cold winter. Particularly vulnerable are plants that were planted late, did not bloom well and left weakened before winter.
Viola does not tolerate wintering well in winters with little snow; spring thaws with subsequent night frosts are especially dangerous for flowers.
In order for the viola not to freeze, it is necessary to avoid low damp places for planting, cover the flowers with covering material for the winter, and in winter carry out snow retention in a flower bed with pansies.
In order for the viola to bloom earlier, it is better to close the flower bed with foil in early spring.
Growing an annual viola is a more predictable process.
Viola varieties
Numerous varieties of these flowers are hybrids of several types of violets. All varieties are widely used in floriculture to create borders, flowering carpets, flower beds, flower beds, as well as to decorate windows and balconies.
Viola can be compact or spreading bushes.
Viols spread all over the globe... The most common groups among our florists are as follows:
- Erfurt early,
- himalis winter,
- swiss large-flowered (Roggli),
- trimardo blooming profusely.
Pansies have an incredible variety of colors and colors, the most popular is the tricolor viola - the top of the petals is purple, the middle petals are yellow and the lower petals light yellow or white.
Landing conditions
Pansies are thermophilic plants. They should be grown in sunny or slightly shaded areas. In partial shade, their flowers become small, the plant itself grows for a long time.
But in a sunny place, the plants have large, bright flowers... Plants do not tolerate lowlands and damp places, spring stagnation of water rather poorly. Loamy, fertile, moist, neutral soils are suitable for pansies.
Growing methods
You can grow these flowers from seeds, planting them directly in open ground, or grow seedlings from seeds.
In addition, it is possible to self-sow pansies in the spring in the place where they were planted last year.
At the same time, the flowers are pollinated, their species differences are lost, the color and size of the flower change.
These flowers are cross-pollinated plants, when planting you need different varieties plant at a distance from each other to maintain the purity of the variety.
To collect seeds from your flowers in the country, you need to select strong specimens, wait for the seed pods to turn yellow and collect the seeds before the pods crack and the seeds spill out onto the ground.
At the same time, it is possible to prepare seeds of exactly those varieties of flowers and colors that you like. The seeds are very small - there are almost a thousand seeds in one gram.
Growing from seeds in the open field
Seeds are planted in open ground in June - July, and pansies will not bloom this year. The flowers will bloom profusely next year in early spring.
Seeds are sown in rows in a nursery - a special bed with well-prepared soil. After the emergence of shoots, they dive, that is, they are transplanted with pinching of the central root by one third for better root formation.
It is done in the presence of two true leaves and transplanted to a permanent place within 25 by 25 centimeters. The plant should develop well over the summer, but not bloom.
Growing seedlings
Sowing seeds is carried out in early March in shallow containers with a drainage hole. The soil for seedlings is shed with potassium permanganate per day. The seeds are laid out, moistened with a sprayer, covered with glass or the boxes with seedlings are placed in a plastic bag and placed in a warm, dark place.
When the sprouts appear, we transfer them to the windowsill, make sure not to steam under the film or glass. Next, we act in the same way as with sprouts in the open field - we dive and then transplant them into separate cups.
At the end of April, you need to harden - take the seedlings out into the street or balcony. In open ground, seedlings are planted depending on the weather in April - early May, and in a month the viola will delight you with abundant flowering.
Propagation by cuttings
Pansies, along with seeds, are also propagated by green cuttings.
When the bushes have been growing for more than two years, they can grow strongly, flowering becomes less abundant.
In order to rejuvenate the plant and propagate it, cuttings are used.
From May to July, in several stages, the most beautiful specimens are chosen, the buds are removed, young end shoots with 2-3 nodes are cut off and planted tightly to each other in the shade in moist soil.
Cover with a jar or paper dipped in water. Cuttings grow well when planted under the crown of a tree. In the fall, after the cuttings have grown well, you can transplant them to your permanent place.
Plant care. For the winter, plants are mulched. Standard care: weeding, watering, loosening, top dressing. For long flowering the faded flowers are removed.
Bloom
Flowering begins in April and lasts until the onset of frost.
Because of the love of the sun, the pansies on the sunny side are always larger and more bright color, but will fade faster.
Pansies, which are grown as biennial plants, are recommended to be cut by cuttings.
Plants grown from summer crops in the previous year, or grown from cuttings, bloom more abundantly and have larger flower sizes than annual flowers.
Watering. Water at the root, abundantly and regularly.
Fertilizers, top dressing... These flowers love fertilizers containing potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and trace elements. The first feeding is carried out at the beginning of butanization.
Diseases, pests... The plant is affected by the following diseases and pests: powdery mildew, leaf spot, root nematode, blackleg, aphid.
Growing in cold climates requires one important procedure- the plants should be dug up for the winter, transferring it to the greenhouse. For other regions, it is quite enough to cover the plants well with sawdust, covering material. Pansies can be combined with other biennials and with perennial plants such as mignonette.
Good luck, gardeners to you!