Gardening with Gary

Gardening Advice from an Expert

Pansies

Q. We have recently had a 6-inch snow in South Carolina. My pansy plants look cooked. How can I help them survive?

A. I am sorry, but with the snow, annuals will die off. They may have seeded themselves, so new seedlings will appear once the soil and air warm up in the spring. But, these annuals are just that...they live one year and then die.

Mary writes~ We live in Zone 8 in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I see other people who have large beautiful pansies that flourish, but when I plant them after a couple of weeks the flower are small and the plants begin to get yellow leaves. What I am I doing wrong?

A. Your Valley should be great for pansies. They like some good light, even just the AM light from daybreak to noon, and cooler temperatures as in Oregon. But what about fertilizer? That is where I wonder you may be hurting them. Do you feed and how often?

I would go buy some Rapid Grow or Miracle-Gro and feed them every other week at full strength. Water in well with the food, and keep an eye on them all summer so as not to allow them to go dry. Make sure that your soil is well-drained [maybe amend it for next year]. Place an inch mulch around the plants to keep their feeder feet [roots] cool and moist. Do not grow them, in total shade, or their flowering will be weak as you describe. But, I do feel it is a nutrient deficiency, so make sure the food you give them is loaded with trace elements.