Planting Pansy
Pansy is a cool season flower in the Violaceae family. Getting the timing right is the difference between a strong stand and a disappointing one, so the windows below are given relative to your own last spring frost and first fall frost rather than a generic calendar date. Look up your local frost dates and count back or forward from there.
Pansy is started indoors 8–10 weeks before your last spring frost date, giving seedlings a head start before they move outside.
Transplant young plants outdoors 2–4 weeks before your last frost — Pansy tolerates cool conditions and benefits from an early start.
Pansy can be grown by starting indoors and transplanting. Starting indoors gives the longest, most controlled season, while direct sowing is simplest where the season is long enough.
Spacing and Planting Depth
Give Pansy room to mature. The figures below come from verified extension and seed-supplier data for typical varieties.
| Spacing in row | 6 inches |
|---|---|
| Row spacing | 8 inches |
| Plants per sq ft | 3 |
| Planting depth | 0.125 inches |
| Sun requirement | Partial sun |
Days to Maturity
Pansy reaches maturity in 60–80 days from transplant.
Pansy is ready to harvest after about 70 days. Harvest before summer heat or, for fall crops, before a hard freeze, to keep quality high.
Conditions and Care
As a cool-season flower, Pansy does its best growing in the cooler weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. It is frost hardy and can shrug off light freezes, so it can stay in the ground later into the season than tender crops.
Pansy grows well in partial sun and tolerates some afternoon shade, which can help slow bolting in warm weather. Sow seed about 0.125 inches deep — small seed is sown shallow and barely covered, then keep the soil evenly moist until seedlings establish.
Pansy belongs to the Violaceae family; rotating where you grow members of this family each year helps limit the build-up of soil-borne pests and disease. Pansy is generally grown as a single planting each season rather than succession sown.
Growing Notes
Edible flowers; cold-hardy bedding plant.