Pansies In Winter - You Can Grow That!

Most people do not wander outside during the winter months.  However, the best way to make a special effort in enjoying the winter months is to plant violaceae or what is commonly known as pansies.  Although known as an annual to some, it is a hardy annual to most folks between zones 5 - 10.  Usually clump forming winter color injectors, I find pansies to be the perfect pant for winter color that shares happy thoughts from fall to spring.

While there are many new cultivars of pansies from clumpers to spreaders, usually they range from 6 - 8 inches in height and spread between 8 - 12 inches.  Continually picking the finished blooms at the base of the stem, will lengthen the bloom time and also increase bud set.  Useful as container plant or fillers within the garden, it is easy to fill in these same areas with summer annuals or as a marker to share where newly planted bulbs will greet spring. Sun to part shade brings out the best in pansies no matter how you use them. From ruffled edges to blotchy faces to antique shades, planted 6 - 8 inches apart pansies create a winter smile, while other plants wait in the wings to share their beauty. Don't be surprised it they look a little limp and flat mid winter or during cold spells.  With a little heat from the sun, pansies tend to bounce back and with a little extra pinching, the foliage does as well.  I usually fertilize mine with liquid Kelp until the ground freezes and by spring, I have what I consider the healthiest and most bloomalicious pansies around.

Whether you have pansies for small bouquets, for candies flowers to be used as decorations for baked goodies.....Violaceae or Pansies.......you can grow them!!

The Garden Calleth.....................

I have been inside doing my end of year clean up and I had to walk the dog.  Aminia has been so loyal since I have been inside and under the weather.  When we came out of the house, I was greeted by the most perfect bud......

What a way to start the day!!!!  When I came back from walking her, I realized that I needed to take a walk through my garden....just to see what was going on.  Imagine my excitement when I realized....hmm....December, almost New Year's and a relatively warm day in winter........what season is it????  It is Hellebore season of course!!!

Left to her own devices, my Hellebore Heaven has given birth to some wonderfully healthy babies!!!!!  My Hellebores are nestled beneath a Cornus Florida from Biltmore Estates (I need to plan another trip down there.  Their wine is absolutely divine....their plants are wonderful as well!).  I mulch this area in the Spring and use Kelp as a fertilizer a few times over the season and it seems to be the right spot to increase my brood of Hellebore's.

I seriously anticipate this time every winter.  It is a sign of the season to come and is also more important than the seed catalogs.or the Garden Club first meeting in the new year announcement....yep these things add some kind of excitement to a cold winter day if you are a gardener)!! It is a sign of survival...a sign that my method of xeriscaping has been tried and true for 6 years now...how exciting is this...at least to me it is!!

Since I was outside, I decided to check the pots of pansies, I bought too late, but put them in anyway.....

Yep....still looking good to me.  Which made me think.......what else is gong on out here, while I lay inside nestled under covers with my trusty Aminia by my side......well let me share.................

(Why is this tree peony singing Donna Summers - I will Survive.....as I always say, disco is not dead!!)

Tree peony buds always seem to say - even if you did not water me, I have been known to live for hundreds of years,,,,just check out the tree peonies at the Woodrow Wilson House in Staunton, Virginia.  A intimate garden at the rear of the house has a substantial stand of tree peonies that have been there for quite some time or take a trip to China and see them growing in the mountains. A Xeric gardeners dream plant!  I won't tell you about the blooms..wait til Spring!!!.

From the Dutch Iris...

to the German Bearded Iris (this one is a clear sunshine yellow)

to the Sedum "Neon".....there is a lot of activity in my garden right ow.   uh oh...what s that....I forgot something....drats......I thought I finished ........oh well.....I have a little more work to do....where is that sot ground when you need it!!!.

Let's see what happens!!!!  See ya in the garden.............

Thoughts On Color In The Winter Garden

The winter garden is visually perceived as only having shades of brown and green, dormant is the term most often used in the horticultural world. 

I urge folks to go outside in the winter , take a walk, walk in the woods, the park or in your own backyard.  Enjoy more than just the briskness of the air and the sound of the leaves beneath your feet.  Instead pay attention to the colors that are still surrounding you - even in the midst of winter.

If you take a look at the shades of rusty red, shimmering golds, deep velvety greens and frosty blue/greys that accent the winter garden, you would begin to realize that winter is merely Act IV of the play called "The Garden".  A few plants that come to mind to embrace this thought are as follows:

Rusty Reds - Larch, Red Twig Dogwood, Epimediums, Nandina;

Shimmering Golds - Golden D'Odor Cedar, Variegated Euonymous, Yellow Twig Dogwood, Gold Mop Cypress;

Deep Velvety Greens - Camellias, Winter Gem Boxwood's, Curly Leaved Ligustrum, Native Hollies:

Lastly the Frosty Blue/Grey's - Caryopteris, Artemesia's, Perovska, Blue Atlas Cedars

It is truly amazing how winter's chill enhances the landscape.  A shrub that is not a focal point throughout the rest of the year is rarely noticed when the garden is in full bloom.  I actually embrace the winter garden and it's nakedness - yet colorful beauty. One can see the structure of certain plant material (usually trees and shrubs) and can visualize how to enhance or expand an existing flower bed. 

As I walk through my front garden, on the left side, the knobby limbs of three tree peonies stand tall amidst  a mulched perennial flower bed.  The window box over flowing with orange and purple pansies and the deep green liriope skirt that caresses the front of the short walk way leading to the parking pad, are the only touches of color on this side. 

On the right side, two Camellia's stand like body guards beside the chartreuse branches of the weeping Japanese maple, which actually pop with color against the white walls of my cottage.  A sleeping cherub statue rests at the base of this dwarf tree amidst a sea of ruby leaved Epimedeum's, deep mocha leaved heuchera's, bright green ruffled leaves of English Primrose and Hellebore Orientalis (both of which are in bloom) and honey brown fern leaves.  The Japanese maple, whose maze of branches appears to be protecting the invisible inhabitants  - ginger, astible, assorted hosta and bleeding heart  - has the two Camellia's that flank each side, while attempting to hold onto the fading pink blossoms from the season past. 

This is like intermission at the theater....you know the next act will complete the show.  Subtle color in the winter garden peaks ones interest of things to come....

Almost April......

All the local garden centers are waiting.  Waiting for the weather to cooperate and give us the warm weather that we were teased with a few weeks ago.  Alas.....it is not time yet.  Not time for the basil seedling's to set their roots in the soil outside,  Not time for the impatiens to brighten up that shady nook.  However it is time to order or purchase those last minute seeds.  Most seeds require 6-8 weeks to sprout and get strong enough to handle the outdoor elements.  So let's see NOW is the time to get started.  Generally, annual plantings should not take place until after the last frost date.  Using Mother's Day weekend as a safe date to plant to your hearts content, there is still time to get plants started indoors. Renee's seeds is offering a discount if you order seeds prior to the end of the month.   Good seed from a passionate gardener and I have never had germination issues when I have used them in the past.  Renee Shepard Seeds..........that is a Teri Pick for sure!!

I am on a nursery prowl to find the friendliest and exciting nursery in the DC Metro area........stay tuned