Pansies, Violas and Spring Bulbs: Plant Now for Months of Color

Hello, again!

Now that's what I'm talking about! As fall officially starts, we are starting to enjoy all the things that come with the season: moisture, cooler afternoon temperatures, and cooler mornings. How about that? My coffee certainly tastes better on cool fall mornings, bacon smells better, and days aren't too short yet. I love this time of year!

We held off until the weather cooled to stock our winter-hardy pansies and violas. With literally hundreds of flats in all colors, it's time to get these amazing plants into their spots where they'll be blooming next spring.

Hardy to below 0º, our pansies and violas will bloom pretty much all winter long, except on the coldest days. They love a snow covering and as much sun as you can give them.

Here's a list of a few of the series of pansies we have in stock now:

• Majestic Giants Pansies maintain a huge flower size of 4 inches, and bloom under warm conditions with excellent overwintering and rebloom in the spring. This pansy ranges in colors from blue, scarlet, cherry red, yellow, and orange to pure white. Majestic Giants Mix is an exceptionally long-lived pansy for the fall and spring seasons.
  
  
• Matrix Pansies are prized for their vibrant, large blooms and consistent growth throughout the cooler season. These beautiful, big flowers appear in a variety of colors with both blotched and clear faces. These low-maintenance plants allow for easy care in your garden, containers, and landscape, and allow maximum growth with little effort. You will love their bursts of vibrant color!
  
  
• Delta Pansies mature into compact 6–8" wide pansies ideal for small planters, window boxes, or hanging baskets out on the patio. They thrive in a variety of shady and cool gardens, and promise to radiantly accent any flower bed, walkway, or office entrance.
  
  
• ColorMax Violas are giant-flowered violas that are heat tolerant and fill pots easily, even under heat stress where standard violas suffer. This viola is a superb autumn performer and a great choice to start the season. An alternative to pansies, violas come in several eye-catching and unique colors that are extremely versatile, making them perfect for beds, pots, baskets, and mixed containers.

By carefully selecting spring-flowering bulbs to plant with pansies and violas, you'll have a great showing of color with crocus and daffodils blooming in late winter, followed by tulips and other bulbs from the Netherlands.

Like all blooming plants, pansies and violas perform best when fed appropriately. I like to get the transplants off to a good start with ferti•lome Root Stimulator at planting time. I'll also incorporate ferti•lome Premium Plant Food into the soil at planting time. Blended with water-soluble nitrogen, it's slow-release and specially formulated for pansies.

Dutch bulbs benefit from a feeding of Bone Meal and Dutch Bulb Food. Our friend Piet Stuifbergen always stresses the importance of watering bulbs at planting time, and occasionally during the winter. We were guests of Piet this summer in the Netherlands. One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Keukenhof Botanical Gardens, where Stuifbergen Bulb Export was among other international growers displaying their bulbs at their peak. With 7 million spring-flowering bulbs blooming during the 8 weeks the garden is open, it's a sight to see. The 'White Church' in Piet's hometown of Noordweikerhout also had a display garden with potted tulips while we were visiting.

Piet's brother Henk is a board member and volunteer at Hortus Bulborum, which is the only garden in the world with a huge collection of historic spring bulbous plants. Over 4,500 different varieties of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, and fritillaries display their beautiful colors in spring. While smaller than Keukenhof, the displays were just as impressive and play a vital role in preserving heirloom bulb varieties. CBS Sunday Morning even did a feature on the gardens and interviewed Henk.

Our annual Pansy Mania Days start this Friday, October 2–11. So don't forget to dig out your Mania bucks you've earned this year, and save on almost everything in the store.

Your friend in the garden,

Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Centers