Growing Pansies and Snapdragons in the Triangle During Winter (Raleigh: appointed, 2014)

[hmrd]

Pansies.
I live in Raleigh and am planning to plant pansies this fall for winter flowers. I grew Matrix pansies last year in a location that got about six hours of full sun each day. They did extremely well, and now I also want to grow pansies in other areas, which have less light, if possible.

So I'm wondering - in our area how much sun do pansies need per day to make a worthwhile display? I've read they need at least four hours of full sun or partial sun for best flowering. Has anyone had success with pansies with only four hours of partial sun per day? With less sun? Has anyone tried pansies in a place that has bright winter light, but no direct sun? My patio is like this. In winter it is shadowed by my two-story house, but no trees shade it so plants can see the sky, but not the sun.

My Matrix pansies bloomed so profusely that I would be happy with 25%, even 50%, fewer blooms if they would do that on my patio. I'm going to test it, but would like to hear from anyone who has info.

Snapdragons.
I've never grown snapdragons, but would like to grow them if they produce flowers throughout the winter. Do they? They're also are said to require full to partial sun, but I would like to know about peoples' experience here in the Triangle, especially Raleigh. I'm particularly interested in the Montego dwarf? Has anyone grown it?

[poppydog]

Not sure about the pansies and sun question, but they do well in winter here. I don't think snapdragons, do, though. I've never seen them in winter.

[Claire_F]

I've not grown snapdragons in the winter, but I have grown pansies and violas. I've planted them in a bed on the south side of our house, as well as containers on our uncovered deck on the north side. Both did well, even through snow, but the violas were much hardier and prolific than the pansies.

[tompope]

Hello, hmrd,

From my experience of growing pansies in the Triangle (about fourteen years), I would say that the amount of sun they receive definitely has a direct effect on how they grow, how dense and vigorous they are, and how much they flower. Basically, the more sun they get, the more robust they'll look and the more they'll flower. There's no getting around that. But, they'll still do quite well and be worth planting in areas with a fair amount of shade. And, unlike most landscape plants, pansies are actively growing through much or most of the winter, so they benefit from the additional sunlight once deciduous trees lose their leaves (people sometimes think that other plants, especially evergreen shrubs, would benefit from that additional winter sunlight, but for the most part they really don't, since it's the sun they get during their active growth in the growing season that really affects them). Also, pansies aren't expensive or difficult to procure and plant, so there's not much to lose by experimenting with exactly which parts of the yard they'll be acceptably attractive in. Generally, though, I would try to find spots where they'll receive at least two or three hours of direct sunlight, or else bright indirect light, all through the winter, as long as they're not too too dry. Again, the more sun the better, but they should still look great with up to moderate shade. You'll be able to tell the ones that are truly getting too much shade because rather than fill-in, especially in February, March, and April, they'll get really leggy and flower sparsely if at all. Frankly, though, to some extent, even a leggy and lightly flowering pansy can be more attractive than otherwise bare dirt or mulch in the wintertime. You said that you're willing to accept at least 25% to 50% fewer blooms than you got on the sunny side of your house, so I think it would be definitely worthwhile to give them a shot on the patio with open sky but no direct sunlight, as long as you have reasonable expectations.

Incidentally, you mentioned last year growing the Matrix series pansies, which I like a lot, too. It's worth mentioning, though, that part of the breeding concept behind the Matrix line was to make them more tolerant of warm weather, so they'd last longer into spring and even early summer while still looking good. The flipside of that is that they generally grow and flower less during the cooler and colder parts of the winter than older strains of pansies, particularly the ever-popular Delta series. Since you were growing them last year in a sunny area, and it was quite a mild winter overall too, I imagine the Matrix benefited tremendously. But now that you're thinking of planting pansies on the shadier patio, that area won't warm up as quickly, so it may be a good idea to plant Delta pansies there instead, and/or mix in some of the smaller-flowered violas, which are a little hardier and more floriferous in cool conditions, as Claire_F said.

As far as snapdragons go, the usual, typical experience around here is that they live through the winter very well, but do not flower through the winter. Typically what happens is that if you buy and plant them in September or October or November, they have flowers or flower buds already on them, which provide you with some nice color for as long as they last, until some time in November or December. But then they won't produce any new flowers for several months. In the meantime, though, their foliage remains green and attractive through the winter, and snapdragons have the advantage of being much more tolerant of very dry, sunny conditions than pansies are, plus they don't get eaten by deer or rabbits, unlike pansies. But they're basically just little green mounds until finally some time around March or even April, when the warming weather and lengthening days trigger them to put on another big flowering show, and they send up a whole bunch of new flower stalks, with their spectacular, splashy, long-lasting flowers of many colors remaining until the weather gets hot. So, as long as you know to expect that going in, you can make your decisions. Whether or not it's worth waiting through the winter for flowers to arrive depends on the situation and your expectations. But they certainly are hardy and beautiful flowers while they last.

[CHTransplant]

We've planted pansies in areas that get sun during part of the day, and they haven't done well. Little growth. Seems to me based on our experience that they need full sun most of the day to thrive.

[hmrd]

Thanks very much to everyone who responded. I'm disappointed that snapdragons aren't likely to have blooms throughout winter, but pleased that pansies may bloom well enough with indirect, but bright light for me to try them on my patio. Claire_F, I was especially glad to hear that pansies did well in containers on your uncovered deck on the north side.

tompope, your gardening knowledge and experience are amazing. Thanks especially for the guidelines about 2-3 hours of direct sunlight, or bright, indirect sunlight all winter. That's the kind of info I was looking for.

Sounds like I was fortunate that we had a mild winter when I grew Matrix pansies. I regretted pulling up my Matrix plants last spring because they were still beautiful, but that's the time choice summer annual replacement plants are available in local nurseries. So, out they came.

Do you know whether any other "super-flower" pansies, such as Colossus, Mammoth, and Majestic Giant II, may do better than Matrix in cold winters? I'm interested in the violas and panolas, but have never grown those. Will try some this fall.

I heard on yesterday's news that the Farmer's Almanac (FA) is predicting a colder winter for 2014. Checked and it's predicting a drier winter, too. So, your info re Delta and violas may be timely - if the FA's is right, and the news said it's correct 80% of the time.

CHTransplant, somewhere I've gotten the idea that Chapel Hill tends to get colder winter weather than Raleigh, although even if that's true, I'm not sure how it would affect pansy blooms. Won't think the sun would be that different and pansies are fine with cold weather except for hard freezes. Glad to get your info even if it's discouraging; I really want to hear actual experiences whatever they may be.

Again, my appreciation and good gardening to all of you.