CULTIVATION
You can start pansies from seed, but that can get a little complicated. It is more practical to buy established plants and choose the colors you want. Pansies that come in larger pots will make a bigger impact and are easier to establish. Pansies prefer rich, organic, loose soil and full sun.
WHERE TO PLANT
In Mississippi, pansies should be planted in late fall. If planted while the weather is still hot, pansies will bolt. These lovely cool-weather flowers are tough, and should there be snow or extremely cold weather, just mulch well or cover with pine straw. After the frigid blast, pansies may look a wee bedraggled, but these resilient flowers will perk up with the return of clement weather. Remove dead flower heads to keep them blooming. In early spring, the fall-planted pansies will be especially beautiful and are gorgeous with tulips and daffodils.
FERTILIZER
Pansies like a little fertilizer. An all-purpose fertilizer will suffice, but pansies perform best when the nitrogen comes from nitrate. Pansies should be fertilized monthly.
WATER
Do not forget to water! In the cooler months, we tend to forget that plants still need to be watered, and that is the major reason pansies sometimes fail to grow and flourish. Pansies need to be watered regularly.
PESTS
Pansies are susceptible to a few diseases, but if planted in the right location and adequately watered and fed, this is unusual. Ah, but the biggest pansy nemesis is the slug. Slugs love to eat pansies. Try natural controls, such as discreetly placing a dish of beer in the flowerbed. The slugs will crawl in for a sip and drown.
