Get your pansies and get them planted

Pansies and their cousins, the Johnny-jump-ups, are among the best plants for the spring gardens.

I returned last week from a trip to Goldsmith Seeds, a favorite plant breeder in Gilroy, Calif. The scientists at Goldsmith are hard at work to improve some of the plants mentioned in last week's article. At the top of the list — pansies.

In its literature, Goldsmith, a multinational company that specializes in the development of flower plants, says its "plant breeders are dedicated to creativity and ingenuity when breeding new varieties."

Looking at Goldsmith's trial gardens, you can see their handiwork. Few, if any flowers surpass Goldsmith's pansies in the broad range of colors — red, purple, blue, bronze, pink, yellow, lavender, mahogany, apricot and orange, as well as an almost true-black and white.

There are more than 250 cultivars or varieties of pansies. Most of the cultivars are part of a series. A series consists of several cultivars that vary in color but share qualities, such as hardiness, form and markings.

Goldsmith is currently promoting the Karma series with the following description: "Large flowers provide nonstop color for fall and spring. Strong plants and root systems allow this plant to handle the rigors of overwintering."

They also feature the Mariposa series, "a multiflora bred for robust root systems that enhance overwintering performance." Together, these two series provide some 38 cultivars with different colors and interests.

Although botanically pansies are biennials, in our area they are grown as winter annuals. Planting them in the fall lets them root in well, and they bloom any time that the temperature is above freezing. Their peak bloom is March, April and early May. Pansies thrive in cool weather but fade and need to be discarded when the hot summer weather begins.

The compact plants seldom grow more than 12 inches high or wide. Individually, pansies are not very showy, but when they are planted together in large drifts or masses of mixed or matched colors, they are spectacular. Use them as under-story plants, providing a background to taller flowers such as tulips and daffodils. You can also edge your beds with them or fill your containers and window boxes with them.

One of the secrets to getting pansies to bloom well is to buy quality plants. Choose those that have stocky stems with dark-green foliage. Most people try to buy plants with the most blossoms, but look for those that are not stretched with few blooms but many buds.