Add winter color: Pansies are a touch, lovely flower that will withstand winter chills

Just before I began to write this column I looked at the weather forecast for the next few weeks. It looks like fall is going to begin the transition to winter. This transition will result in the decline of beautiful fall colors. If this bothers you, then think about planting some pansies in your landscape to keep beautiful colors in your landscape all winter long.

I am not sure of who came up with the name of pansies for these beautiful flowers, but I think they messed up. I have seen pansies bloom in the winter with ice hanging on the blossom. That wouldn't happen to a flower if it was a real "pansy."

If you are wanting winter color in your landscape I suggest planting pansies. In order to enhance the ability of these plants to bloom all winter long, make sure that you plant them properly.

Find an area in your landscape that gets a lot of winter sun. Work up the soil in that area by mixing peat moss with the soil. Check the soil pH to determine if the pH is around 6.5 to 7.0. In most of the soils in the Heartland, the pH may be below the 6.5 notch so you may need to add a little lime to bring the pH up to that level.

You should also work some peat moss into the soil. This will make the soil more permeable and will keep it from staying too wet during the fall and winter season.

A can of plant food sits with a group of pansies near the entrance to Sunny Hill Nursery on Wednesday in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS ~ bmatthews@ semissourian.com

Next plant your pansies in the bed. Make sure that you water them in after planting with a solution of a high phosphorous fertilizer such as 9-58-8. The high middle number, phosphorous, will encourage the plants to put their energy into producing roots to start with after planting. A good root system is needed for plant survival in the winter.

After planting I would suggest that you also apply some sort of much around the plants to help keep the soil a little warmer in the winter. This will also help hold moisture in the soil if the season is very dry.

If you don't want to plant pansies in the soil of your landscape, you can also plant some in pots. Use a good potting mix with no moisture control added to the mix. You want to control the moisture in the pots, especially during winter -- the addition of a moisture control will often result in root rot because of excess moisture.

I would suggest that if you do decide to plant pansies in your landscape soil or in pots, do it as soon as you can. You want to make sure that the plants become acclimated to the new soil and to the environmental conditions before the onset of really cold temperatures.

I hope that you try pansies this fall if you never had before. The colors will lighten your day even if all you see is clouds.