If it’s fall, that must mean that it’s time to plant pansies. Because of that, your favorite garden center should have a good selection of pansies available that are just waiting for you to take home.

Pansies are a favorite of both well-seasoned gardeners and beginners because, not only do they provide beautiful winter color when most everything else is brown, but they are also pretty easy to grow. Plus, they can freeze solid during a cold snap, thaw, and be back again. You can’t beat that.

Due to their popularity, we now have more than 300 varieties of pansies to choose from including hybrids that have been bred for better heat tolerance, unusual flower coloration, and larger flower size. Pansies at most garden centers should be available in gold, purple red, rose, maroon, orange, and violet with a large variety of shades in between.

In addition, there are solid colors known as clear-faced pansies, blotches aka faced pansies that have a darker center, and two tones. The bottom line is there should be beautiful pansies available whatever your color preference.

When shopping, you should be able to find pansies in trays of 24 or 36 plants as well as 3- or 4-inch pots. The larger pots will have a better developed root system, but a lot of us go for quantity when purchasing pansies.

When shopping for pansies, try to avoid those plants that are over-grown, leggy plants. These plants won’t be the healthiest and therefore won’t do great in your garden. Also, when shopping, don’t be afraid to lift out a plant from the tray to look at their roots. The roots should be white and fibrous. If they are brown, put them down and continue your search.

One thing to remember when trying to decide where to plant your pansies is that pansies like well-drained soil. Wet roots, or wet feet and we like to call it will reduce the vigor of the plant and contribute to root rot.

When preparing your beds for pansies, it’s a good idea to use this time to add some organic amendments to improve soil quality. Compost or composted animal manure are good choices. However, you don’t want to add more organic matter than 25% of the bed as this could cause you troubles down the line.

When our temperature drops below 25 degrees, expect your pansies to not look their best but once it warms back up, they’ll be back again. In fact, one of the main problem gardeners have when growing pansies is pulling them out for spring planting because they look great during moderate spring weather.

Either way, pansies are a great way to add some color to an otherwise grey garden season. Good luck.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Tom Ingram