Pansies 2023

[Branching Out]

I had a few lettuce seedlings in among one of my pansy patches, and with the intense hot weather that we have had over the last little while the plants have really grown quickly. One of those 'little' lettuces is now more than a foot across, so the pansies are having to stretch to reach the light.

 

[Dahlia]

I

Two pansies successfully overwintered and are blossoming now.
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They also offered a lot of self-seeded offspring. I dug them out and would pot them on later as the flowers on my small shop windowsill. The color is lovely.
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I also sowed two varieties this year, dark purple and burgundy red.
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I read that you can eat the flowers on pansies. I bet they would look pretty on a cake!

 

[Phaedra]

The color is changing, lovely.

 

[Branching Out]

Last week I spent some time collecting seed pods from five different kinds of pansies. Then today I noticed what I thought was dirt all over the floor, and on closer inspection the little specks were pansy seeds. The pods must have shattered and dispersed the seeds all over my kitchen floor. And there is a good chance that the five kinds of seeds that I so carefully separated are all mixed up with flying seed now. Next time I will keep the different types of seed outdoors and far apart, to avoid having this kind of cross-contamination again.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Yeah, pansy pods pop when they dry. That's why I learned to cover my drying bowl.

Actually, if there are enough of them (like when I did the field pansies) I could actually HEAR the seeds pinging against the top (reminded me of when I was getting seeds out of the Phyllanthus fruits, whose seeds also explode as they dry.)

 

[Branching Out]

Yeah, pansy pods pop when they dry. That's why I learned to cover my drying bowl.

Actually, if there are enough of them (like when I did the field pansies) I could actually HEAR the seeds pinging against the top (reminded me of when I was getting seeds out of the Phyllanthus fruits, whose seeds also explode as they dry.)

Covering the pods sounds like a great idea. What kind of cover do you use? Some kind of mesh. I would think that ample air circulation would be important.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Since I am generally using a plastic takeout container for the drying container, I just put the top on loosely (if I sealed it, the moisture would stay in and make them get moldy). Mesh would probably work, provided the holes are small enough the seeds can't go through them.

 

[digitS']

Viola Violence

 

[heirloomgal]

I had no idea pansy seed pods do that. I've never saved them before; this is good to know if I ever try to.

 

[Branching Out]

Some of the pansy seeds that I saved in June of 2023 have been sitting in our fridge for about six months, so I figured I had better do something with them. About a week ago I placed a small square of damp paper towel over them, and placed them in little lidded plastic cups in a dark drawer. This morning I was shocked to see that all three varieties were germinating like crazy. Go figure. I have never had this kind of success with sprouting pansy seeds before. Maybe the dry seeds benefit from a really, really, long cold treatment.