Plant Profile: Pansy and Viola

Plant Profile:  Pansy and Viola (Viola sp.)

Pansies and Violas are easy-care flowers that thrive in cool weather and add a bright spot to garden beds and container plantings.  

These aren’t your grandmother’s old-fashioned flowers. Pansies and violas now come in dozens of colors, color combinations, bloom sizes, and growth habits (from mounding types to trailing). Recent introductions have also improved their cold tolerance and blooming vigor as well.

There are more than 500 known species of violas and they are indigenous to every continent except Antarctica, according to Barbara Melera of Harvesting-History.com.

By the way, did you know the differences between a pansy and a viola? Though pansies, are generally larger than violas. It is actually the petal count and position that differentiates them. Pansies have 4 petals pointing upward and only 1 pointing down. Violas have 3 petals pointing upward and 2 pointing down.

Pansies and violas (also known as Johnny Jump Ups) can be started from seed in the fall for spring blooms or in the spring for summer and fall blooms.

Pansies and violas are perennials that are hardy from Zone 3 to 9. Though they are short-lived plants and are usually treated as cool-season annuals.

They prefer a highly composted, evenly moist soil and they bloom best in full-to-part sun.

They go dormant in the heat of the summer and coldest parts of winter, but will begin to bloom again when the weather is more temperate in spring and fall. 

Give them a slow-release fertilizer mixed into the soil when planting them or added as a top dressing after planting. The best time to fertilize pansies and violas is in the early spring and again in late summer as they come out of their dormancy for fall blooming.

To keep them looking their best, deadhead them regularly (that is, removing the spent flowers and stems). When they become leggy and overgrown, you can cut back the whole plant to a couple of inches high to rejuvenate it.

In the winter, lightly mulch around the plants and keep them watered. If they are in container, it is especially important to not let them dry out in the harsh winter winds.

Great companions to pansies and violas are snapdragons and sweet alyssum.

Pansies and Violas: You can grow that!

The video was produced by Washington Gardener Magazine and edited by intern Jessica Kranz.
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Planting the Pansy Project in DC

By Kelly Zheng

Growing up in a low-income family in Upstate New York, seven-year-old Justin Kondrat enjoyed visiting his Grandma Pearl every weekend. They did not have much, yet he loved her small garden. Filled with tulips, pansies and sunflowers, it provided not just pretty flowers, but served as a place for inclusion and healing. Kondrat spent hours tilling soil, tending the plants and measuring flowers. When it was lunchtime, his grandmother would look for him only to find him deep in his own world.

“I knew I was different, but I masked it with gardening,” the 26-year-old DC-based horticulturist said. “Fortunately, I had a grandmother who taught me... and told me that being different didn’t make me any less human.” Of all the flowers Kondrat planted with his grandmother, the pansy was special to him -- a flower of beauty, resilience and sentiment.

However, he  knew there were other associations with his favorite flower. Fag. Sissy. Wimp.

A desire to combat these labels led Kondrat to be an activist for LGBTQ equality during his studies in horticulture production, environmental science and plant sciences at three distinct institutions. “From almost getting hit by a car to being told by the college administration that I won’t make a difference, it infuriated me into action,” he said. “I refused to let them win...”

Kondrat publicly identified as gay at age 21. His grandmother, mother and sister supported him -- even though his father did not. Seeking support online, Kondrat found The Pansy Project by British artist Paul Harfleet. Harfleet plants pansies at sites of homophobic abuse, whether it is emotional, verbal or physical.

Harfleet started the project 13 years ago because of his own encounters with aggressive homophobia. He said the pansy plantings are a conceptual art piece to create awareness of these incidents world-wide. He located victims’ stories around Europe and then branched out to North America. The flowers are photographed, posted on his website and tied to a searchable online map. Each pansy listed is named after the abusive incident and includes the victim’s story. Harfleet also wrote and illustrated the “Pansy Boy” children’s book. It is a semi-autobiographical allegory about challenging homophobia in a non-confrontational way.

After talking online and by phone for a year, Kondrat and Harfleet met last fall in London and planned for Harfleet’s trip to the U.S. this month. “Horticulture naturally invites everyone to feel welcomed,” Kondrat said. “These are heinous acts, but it brought Paul and I together to bring homophobia to light.”

During his April 3 book reading at Busboys and Poets in DC, he talked about his self-planted pansies in England. He also discussed planting 23 pansies with Kondrat during his week-long stay in DC, including one each at the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court.

A DC resident who identifies as queer, came to the event excited to meet Harfleet and get her book signed. “I really appreciate the positive aspects of the book, as it’s already difficult facing homophobia in real life,” she said. “Pansy Boy addresses it more simply, but there’s still a rich meaning.” She added that Harfleet’s work made her feel like there is hope and she is in a safe environment. She struggled with homophobia when her mother nearly disowned her for coming out.

Though there is still work to be done in relation to homophobia, Kondrat said if someone is thrown negativity, it is just that. It does not define their destiny. “You’re never truly alone,” he said. “Believe in yourself and things will come. You’ll get through it and when you do, you’ll have quite the story to tell.”

About the Author:

Kelly Zheng is a junior multiplatform journalism major, with a minor in technology entrepreneurship, at the University of Maryland, College Park. This spring semester, she is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener.