CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR
THE FLOWER RANCH EMAIL NEWSLETTER!

Wow. How the time flies. The cooler weather is just around the corner and it will be time to plant Pansies. Our Pansies start becoming ready around October 1st. and continue with regular crops available through December and on into the winter months.

Optimum planting time for us in our area is somewhere between October and November. Although it is perfectly fine to plant your pansies later into the winter months the selection of colors will be greater during the peak months of October and November.

Bed Preparation
A well prepared bed is key to any new planting. Clean out plant material to be replaced in the bed. Turn and till the soil up well. If you have mulch on this bed it is normally fine to go ahead and till the mulch into the bed unless it is the large deco bark. The mulch will decompose and break down into the soil. Adding landscape mix or compost at this time helps with drainage and also helps break down the clay soils we have in this area. If you are one of the few in our area that have the sandy soil adding landscape mix also helps with water retention.

Fertilizing
Apply Color Star Fertilizer to the bed area before planting. An application of our Color Star fertilizer will help ensure optimal growth and blooms for your Pansy beds. Color Star is a balanced blend of blooming fertilizer and it in a base of blood meal and bone meal. There is no need to add additional blood or bone meal with the use of Color Star.

Watering:
After many months of repeating “water – water- water” to nurse our annuals and landscape through our hot summer months, it is time to put on the water brakes. How often should we water, is a very hard question to answer. All new plantings normally require a good soaking at transplant and then watered 2-4 times a week, depending on the heat and weather, for the first two – three weeks only. After your new plants get established it is important to cut the water back to an “as needed” basis, once a week of deep thorough saturation should be adequate for most instances. Every bed is different as is every soil type. There are no exact rules for every application. But I will tell you the number one problem we see every year in the Pansy landscape is due to over watering.

Sun vs. Shade:
All pansies require at least half day of sun to perform well. Too much shade will cause a pansy to get “leggy” (stretch) and produce very few blooms. Remember that shade from deciduous trees will drop their leaves and be sun for the winter time.
For beds that are on the close north side of the house or that are shaded from buildings pansies are probably not the best choice. They may survive but not perform great.

Selection of colors
We carry as many as 40 varieties of Pansies and Viola’s that we grow. Look at our Pansy page to browse through all of our colors and varieties. It is normally a good idea to have a back up selection as well. Pansy season at The Flower Ranch is fast and furious. Although we have a huge selection some items may be gone on the day you come out or we may in between crops for that color or we may be sold out for the season. Even though we pride ourselves on having a huge selection and making sure our valued customers are satisfied with a great product, there are times we run out of a particular item due to the nature of our business.

I am tired of Pansies. Is there anything else?

First off, at least we have pansies that love our winter and give us an abundant amount of color on cold drab winter days. Many areas of our country do not have this option.  To mix it up and add interest try incorporating Ornamental Kale and Cabbage, along with Dusty Miller, assorted ivy’s, Cyclamen, Primula, ornamental mustard, Swiss Chard, and pyramid hardy Rosemary. The Cyclamen and Primula may need more attention and covering during a freeze.

Freezing temperatures forecast.
It is not necessary to cover your Pansies for a hard freeze in the forecast. It is recommended to make sure that your beds are adequately wet before a freeze. A wet bed is much better to survive than a dry bed.

FALL GARDEN MUMS

The Garden mums will be ready for sale and planting mid September. Buds set and ready to go. Blooms will be showing a few weeks later. Planting a mum that is tight, not blooming will allow the plant to get set before blooming and when it does open the blooms can last longer. We are growing a nice selection of 6” and 2 gallon mums.