I'm hoping that someone who has tried to overwinter pansies in a climate similar to yours will chime in. I'll suggest that your success at over wintering in your zone might depend on whether you take special care to protect the root system or not. It's a little late to plant the pansies out in a bed, but you might consider sinking the pot as Ken suggests. The soil provides excellent insulation. There are Viola hybrids that are extremely cold hardy, something you may want to look into for next year, but you would still need to protect the root system from freezing. Even those new-ish hybrids are not recommended for container planting in very cold climates. In my zone 7 climate, pansies are planted as a fall/winter/spring annual. If protected from the coldest of temperatures, they'll provide color all during the cold months and will only die back once it gets too hot. Where ever you live, pansies do not like the hottest months of the year. I expect that you can begin to see pansies in your garden centers in February or so...they don't mind frosts or even freezing temperatures. I wouldn't stick them out in advance of a severe cold snap, though.

Hello, I just posted this on another thread, but it may help you, too: if you will follow the link below and scroll to the pictures posted by Hartwood, that is what my rooting pots look like, but I can put perennials outside on the south side during winter if I can get them rooted before freeze. I bed them - with pots and domes and a little extra mulch built up on the sides of the domes - on the south side of the house. They get direct sunlight and no fungus. If temps threaten to drop below 10F, I will put a black pot on top until the frigid weather is past, and when the temps start to get above 80F, I'll take the domes off so the foliage won't bake. The plants need water when there is no condensation on the inside of the dome. Good luck, Gary Here is a link that might be useful: Hartwood posting

If a cutting is grown from mature fruiting wood, then it can flower and fruit almost immediately, regardless of size. There is very little scientific research about rootstocks for potted citrus because there is no commercial incentive to drive it. I doubt there are many commercial growers who produce fruit from potted trees, and nursery growers of potted ornamental citrus have different requirements. They need to quickly produce a visually appealing potted plant, preferably with showy fruits. They are not interested in the taste, disease resistance, long term viability or fruit quantity - all of which can be affected by rootstock choice. If varieties root easily - such as Meyer's Lemon - they will stick a few cuttings in a pot. Otherwise, they will use whatever rootstock is available that will quickly produce a saleable plant. In Europe, such plants are produced in quantity, mainly in Italy, and exported to more Northerly countries where they are often sold for Christmas. I guess most of them will be dead by the next Christmas! So the alternative to such ornamental plants, is to buy grafted plants meant for growing in-ground which are mostly a 'by-product' from commercial citrus plant producers. I think that if you then plant these in a pot, you have taken control over nutrition, irrigation, temperature and soil conditions and these factors will far outweigh any effect from the rootstock. For instance, restricting pot size has a huge effect on plant size. So, in many ways, rootstock choice no longer matters if you provide the right conditions in your pot. Perhaps, if you know you are going to over water or leave outside in cold conditions or water with salty or acidic water, then you should select a suitable rootstock. Otherwise, just ignore the rootstock type - give the plant a good home and it should be happy.

Thank you! I have to be honest I really have not done much on the fertilizer but I mixed it Osmocote in all the soil before I potted them all last Oct. The seed pod popped into sight once the flowers were not covering it up. Its the white one I call "Eddy" (Edward scissor hands) I may give a try to seeds once it ripens. I will post a pic of the new bloom once she reveals herself =)