How Long Do Winter Pansies Last in the UK? - Primrose Garden Club

Much loved winter pansies form the backbone of many winters’ floral displays. In fact, they often out-flower many other plants during the colder months and add a splash of colour in the darkest days.

Unlike summer pansies, winter pansies are grown specifically for cold weather and are hardy enough to survive frosts and even a dusting of snow.

To get the most from your winter pansies the key is the location of where they are planted and the care that you give them over the winter.The best time to plant winter pansies is as early as possible, the ideal time is in September & early October. This is when your soil and compost will still be warm as it has not yet started to cool down from mid-October onwards.

Your summer bedding may still be putting on a show in September, but you have to consider if it’s worth sacrificing those last few weeks of colour now for more colour in the winter. When you plant winter pansies in beds, borders, baskets, or pots in September they will grow quickly producing vigorous roots and bushy tops. A bushy winter pansy will give you more flowers as the plants are stronger and they go on to produce flowers throughout the winter, except in the harshest conditions. If you plant your pansies later in the year (for example from October onward) they don’t have the time to grow large enough to produce flowers all winter. Pansies planted at this time will always do their best and put on a show, but they won’t be quite as a flower filled as a September planting.

What to do in a hot September

Septembers can still be warm, almost hot in some years, and this can cause your winter pansies to set seed. If your pansies start to set seed then they will stop flowering so it’s worth checking them regularly to see if any seed pots are forming. If this is the case, simply remove the seed pods to ensure more flowers are formed. Once the weather cools, there will be no need to do this.

Create an impactful display

When you’re planting your winter pansies, add spring flowering bulbs underneath the roots before planting them. In pots and containers, add interesting foliage plants to give more interest and add a backdrop to the flowers.

As light levels in the UK are very low during winter, we recommend lighter coloured flowers for the biggest impact. Yellow in particular works very well.

Watering

Don’t forget to water your plants during winter, especially when you have pots & baskets close to your house. The British winter is often quite wet but when placed in the shelter of buildings, porches & fences, it may mean your pots & baskets don’t receive any of this water and they’ll dry out. Dry compost leads to starving plants so be sure to keep a close eye on watering.