Caught With Your Pansies Down ... ?
One reader called us “sadistic,” but most just cried “help.” “Would you consider sharing your secret with your readers? Some of my violas are already giving up the ghost, the stalk seemingly severed right at the soil line.”
We didn’t intend to leave anyone in suspense--last week’s column was supposed to end with “Next week, we’ll share some of the secrets--old and new--of growing pansies and violas,” but the column was cut due to space limitations. However, we quickly learned how common the sudden decline and wilting of pansies is, and we apologize to all those left hanging.
Another reader: “I lose lots of pansies each year. Have tried everything--putting them on mounds, cutting back on watering, more watering, etc. And they still die. Healthy plants seem to just rot away. Tell us the solution.”
The problem is a fungus, one of many named Rhizoctonia . It attacks the base of the plant and literally severs it from the roots. It may be brought on by too much water, but some readers suggested that even less watering didn’t help.
The solution was suggested by Lew Whitney at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. They spray the plants with Ortho Multipurpose Fungicide, which contains the active ingredient Daconil. They emphasize that this will not bring back plants already infected, but--in their experience--it will prevent the fungus from attacking nearby pansies or violas, and it can prevent the fungus in the first place.
If you’ve had problems in the past, they suggest spraying new plantings as soon as they go in the ground and then following up with a second spraying a few weeks later. The fungus only lives on the soil’s surface, so there’s no need to soak or drench the soil--just get the surface good and wet, especially around the base of the plants.
All pansies, but in particular the smaller, viola-flowered kinds, will flower from now into early summer. This was known years ago, and a report from W. M. Bristol of San Bernardino, in the 1915 edition of “California Garden Flowers,” states: “Probably there is no place better adapted to the production of magnificent pansies than Southern California. The weather from January to July is more or less cool and moist, conditions favorable to the growth of the pansy, and with proper management the plants will produce an immense crop of blossoms of large size.”
Pansies and violas can get long and leggy--straggly--and one certainly wants to avoid buying them when they already look like this, which is why you must find tight, compact plants that haven’t begun to lean or topple. This is especially true of plants in packs or flats, but also true of those in four-inch pots and already flowering.
Radical Technique
Should they become leggy later on in the ground, try another trick passed along to us by Whitney, even though it sounds drastic: Cut them back to within an inch of the ground, fertilize and water--and watch them come back. Sometimes individual branches become leggy but they can just be pinched back.
The reason they become long and leggy is most often not enough light. Heed Bristol’s advice from 1915: “Don’t believe the threadbare and absurd statement that ‘pansies like a shady place.’ Set them where they will receive full sun but no reflected heat from buildings.
“Remove all blossoms as they wilt,” Bristol continues, and this advice is seconded by Whitney. If allowed to go to seed, they will not last nearly as long.
What pansies and violas like is not shade but cool and moist soil, so it’s worth the effort to add organic amendments before planting, and to mulch. The plants must never be allowed to dry out--they like moisture--but Bristol’s advice is again appropriate today as it must have been then: “Don’t give them a shower bath with the hose every day or two. It is folly. It hardens and packs the ground while the roots may be suffering for moisture. Once every week or two make holes or furrows among the plants and keep water therein until the ground is thoroughly soaked.”
You may not want to irrigate with furrows, but when you water, do so thoroughly. Old books make quite a point of never letting pansies go completely dry, and of mulching with some organic material--the key words are always “a cool and moist soil,” and mulching is always suggested. Full sun for the tops, cool and moist for the roots.
The traditional place to plant pansies has always been along the front walk so their cheery faces can welcome visitors.
Pansies, and especially violas, are the perfect companion for spring bulbs. After you plant the bulbs, plant pansies on top. They will flower both before and after the bulbs and the fading bulb foliage can be bent over and hidden under the pansy foliage.
A not-so-obvious place for pansies is up high in hanging baskets or in window boxes, simply because you can then enjoy them face to face. It would be tempting to make a window box just for pansies, so you can view them at eye level.
Viewed so close, you will see that their faces most resemble cats, with the streaks being the whiskers--as is borne out in the name of one old-time pansy strain, Felix.
Pansies are perfect in any container and that is the best use for those sold in four-inch or quart pots, those already in flower. Though a single plant will fill a 12-inch container in a few weeks, don’t hesitate to plant them close together for instant effect.
