Colourful Winters with Pansies and Violas
Ensure your June garden is bright and colourful throughout the season
Pansies and Violas
One of nature’s gifts to us during winter is the sweet, fragrant face of pansies and violas. These gorgeous little plants really take the bite out of winter. Bring some joy to your winter garden with these special flowers which are extremely easy to grow! Pansies have bigger faces and leaves than their cousin the viola which is also known as Heart’s Ease.
Pansies generally have fewer blooms per plant, but make up for it with much larger flowers. Violas have small, dainty flowers, but they are very florific. Both perform well in a sunny or partially shaded position, so planting under deciduous trees in autumn is ideal. Violas are even happy in quite shady positions, so are perfect for brightening up dull areas. If we happen to experience a hot “Indian (late) summer, be sure to mulch well around your newly planted seedlings as they don’t like warm soil.
Mesembryanthemum
Vygies, otherwise known by their hard to spell name, mesembryanthemums, are quite possibly South Africa’s most colourful group of plants! What more could you ask for in a winter garden. Technically classed as succulents, vygies are excellent for those areas that are experiencing drought or even prone to drought conditions.
Depending on what you choose from the vast selection at your disposal, you can plant them anywhere from rockeries to borders, containers and even as ground covers in beds that receive a lot of sunlight. The key really is that they are sun lovers and don’t require a lot of maintenance, so make sure they’re not paired with anything requiring regular watering.
Information supplied by the Bedding Plant Growers Association. For more, go to www.lifeisagarden.co.za.
DID YOU KNOW?
Click on the words highlighted in red to read more on this and related topics.
To receive news links via WhatsApp, send an invite to 061 694 6047
The South Coast Sun is also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest – why not join us there?
Do you have more information pertaining to this story?
Feel free to let us know by commenting on our Facebook page or you can contact our newsroom on 031 903 2341 and speak to a journalist.
(Comments posted on this issue may be used for publication in the Sun)
