Emily Chan
Just because the days are now dark and cold, that doesn’t mean your garden has to be the same way. Brighten up your space with winter pansies, also known as ice pansies. These pretty, perky plants are a reliable way to add interest to your garden during the winter season, a time when you need the most cheering up.
Winter pansies offer a lot of versatility. You can plant them in hanging baskets, pots, flower beds, borders, and windowsills. Winter pansies provide beautiful colors with shades that range from purple and blue to white and yellow.
They are simple enough to work with if you know what you’re doing. If you don’t, here’s everything you need to know about winter pansies, including how to grow them from seed, how often you need to water them, and everything in between.
How To Grow Winter Pansies From Seed
The process of growing winter pansies from seed isn’t hard to get the hang of, whether you’re doing it indoors or outdoors. It’s usually easier to start pansy seeds indoors and transplant them outside. It’s recommended to start them about eight weeks before frost hits in your area.
First, fill your containers with a special seed-starting mix. Next, sprinkle the seeds over the soil and bury them with a half-inch layer of the mix. Water the seeds and then cover them with plastic wrap. The seeds should be kept in a warm, protected location around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once they begin to take root, move them to a place that gets bright, indirect sunlight and remove the plastic covering. After the seed grows a second set of leaves, transplant it into a two-inch pot or outside in your garden if the temperature is below 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
How To Care For Winter Pansies
These flowers prefer at least six hours of direct sunlight. They can still grow in partial shade, but their blooms will be smaller. Winter pansies also require rich, well-draining soil. The soil must be kept moist but not wet.
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