Seed pansies and violas indoors in late winter and in mid-July for transplants to bloom during autumn and winter before full flowering in spring.
Dear Helen: I have noted the enthusiasm with which you write about pansies and violas. Do you grow them all from seed or do you buy transplants? If you grow from seed, how difficult are they to grow well and when do you make seedlings? Do you have favourite varieties?I grow most pansy and viola transplants from seed, but can never resist the late summer and early spring displays of these plants at garden centres. I usually buy a few transplants to add to my own.
The seeds germinate best in dark conditions. I place several sheets of newspaper over the loose plastic covering on the seeded flats. If I had to choose from among the violas, I would go with the classic, award-winning Delft Blue, an elegant little confection in blue and white that bears the name of the beautiful and well-known Dutch porcelain.
Among pansies, as with violas, choices will depend on favoured colours and the effect desired, as in something soft and soothing or shockingly vibrant. May Day is also International Workers’ Day, which celebrates achievements in workers’ rights and honours worker activism and the sort of solidarity seen last year among different segments of the film industry.
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