Pansy & Viola
Try our Home grown Pansy & Viola for months and months of non-stop flowering.
At the Nurseries we grow all of our pansies & violas we sell.
The range gets larger each season. This Year's plants have the improvements of modern breeding tecniques in colour and habit.
Pansy
The most popular and best loved. It will perform in your garden whether in a container or planted out into the borders etc.
Totally Winter hardy. Flowers from end August - next August (if looked after!) Typically the pansies are termed as Winter pansies and will flower through the Winter providing there are plenty of sunny days. They require the sun to initiate flower bud and in the sometimes dreary, dull days that Winter offer they maybe shy to flower. The reward is usually around the end of February onwards the first Spring flush of vibrant colours lift the garden into joy.
The range mainly consists of 'Delta' which are one of the worlds leading series. We have various colours that are used on their own or by combining colours producing stunning effects. We grow special, select range of 'Matrix' Pansies which offer unique colour coordinations.
'Coolwave' Pansy are trailing pansies. These are gaining popularity due to the early, continious flowering with a mounding, vigorous trailing habit. Perfect for using as Winter or early Spring baskets, as well as in containers. New to us this year is 'Fire' and one called 'Raspberry'. Both look very promising.
A range called 'Panola' no guessing by the name what is going on here. Inbetween size of pansy and viola flower head size making the plants compact yet retaining vibrant and long flowering times as well as hardiness.
Viola
Flowering non-stop from end August until the following Summer. As with pansies the Viola is totally hardy - in fact if you have an exposed garden viola will cope better than the pansy.
Gaining in popularity all the time and with constant improvements in colour,habit and flower size, the viola is often first choice.
We grow some superb ranges. The 'Rocky' series is versatile and reliable. Mass of flower heads and tidy habit make this world class.
'Deltini' this is a must for any garden. If you only have room for one container this is the one to choose. Flower colours are unique and slightly larger than a normal viola. A compact habit with healthy foliage. New colours this year are 'Violet Face'.
One of my favourites is the 'Endurio' viola. This is a semi-trailng mound forming frost & snow resistant variety. Abundant flowering suitable for baskets and patio containers etc. A very good red called 'Red Flare' is new this year. 'Sky Blue Martien' & 'Pink Shades' are definately worth a go.
Both pansy & viola lend themselves to mixed planting. They look good with miniature cyclamen, chrysanthemum, heather, primroses and wallflowers. Under plant with daffodils, tulips & iris for a truly colourful display.
Plant en-masse for stunning effect. Often simple is best. 3-5 plants of the same colour in a pot can look amazing. Try your hand at mixing colours. We have found yellow, blue & white go well. Shades of blue, purple white work too. To cheer you up a sunshine mix of Deltini Yellow, white & burgundy is just the ticket.
Easy to care for?
Unlike a lot of bedding plants, pansy & especially viola are easy to keep looking good providing a few basics are given.
Watering is best done in morning, keep drier during the winter months - but at the same time don't let them dry out completely.
Feed with a high potash feed such as vitax 102, once estabished. If you are time strapped we suggest adding slow release food in the compost at time of planting with Vitax Q4 or Osmocote. This should provide enough nutrient for 6 months, but frequency of watering may effect this.
De-head regurlarly to keep the plant producing more flowers and for disease prevention. The smaller violas are self-cleaning, ie. de heading not neccessary.
Pest & disease problems?
If the plants are kept healthy with good watering and de heading & dead leaf removal the plants will be trouble free.
Pests. Caterpillars are the main issue. If you are environmentally minded, pick off any you see. However, a spray with systemic insecticide will do the trick. Slugs can often eat the flower buds, leaves & stems so watch out for them.
Disease. There can be leaf spot and downy mildew problems. This mainly happens if we get a dull wet Winter. Try to keep plants dry and remove any affected leaves straight away. Preventitive fungicides can work if applied correctly.
Don't let the pest & disease possibilities persuade you not to try them! The rewards are far, far greater.
