Pansies in my tulip/daffodil bed

18 years ago

Hi, all - I did a search in the other forums, but I really wanted advice from folks in my same zone. I planted bulbs (daffodils, tulips, crocuses) for the first time last fall in a bed right up against the house. When they came up this spring, they were patchy, with lots of bare spots. My husband was complaining (I must admit it looked silly), so I went out this weekend and planted pansies - to fill in the spots, and to cover up the bulbs' foliage as the blooms fade.

I'd like to have some pansies in place next spring, so the whole bed looks full from the get-go. I don't think these pansies will make it through the summer - this planter box is south-facing, in full-sun all day and surrounded by concrete and siding, so it gets really hot in the summer. I usually put zinnias in the box in the summer, water 'em well, and they look nice.

Should I rip up these pansies in late spring (and cut the bulbs' foliage after the blooms have faded a month or so), and then replant some pansies in the fall? I've read some conflicting advice about pansies being able to make it through our winters to bloom again the next spring. Folks have also said that pansies are good reseeders, but this bed is probably over-mulched - I was worried about protecting the bulbs I planted last fall. Maybe I should just sow some pansies seeds in the fall?

Sorry for any rambling - advice is appreciated!

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Comments (8)

pitimpinai
18 years ago
I have not had much luck with Pansy overwintering in my garden. It does best in cool weather. I am too cheap to keep buying annuals every year too, so I have been adding perennials over the years. Now I have bulbs in between shrubs and perennials. When bulbs fade, perennials pick up the slack.

Another thing I do is planting early - mid - later blooming bulbs. This way, with perennials & shrubs, there is always something interesting to see year round. These other plants draw attention away from messy spring bulb foliage too. And I am rambling way off without answering your questions. :-)
nornster
Original Author
18 years ago
No, you're going right to the gist of my question - thanks! The pansies are a good solution for this spring, but long term I don't think I want to keep planting two sets of annuals in this box every year - one of the reasons I put in the spring bulbs. My bulbs are early,mid & late blooming, too, but I also want to disguise the messy foliage. What perennials have you had luck with?

My yard is so wet as to be almost a bog, so this flower box is kind of my opportunity for something different. BTW, love the pictures of your yard - what part of Chicago are you from?
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snews911
17 years ago
You might consider Peonies or Iris and daylilies, particularly the everblooming variety, to help fill in.
tulip_lover
17 years ago
I agree with the others. I have perennials in my bed and the spring bulbs are planted around them. My flower bed is also south-facing, full sun. I have peonies, baby's breath, catmint, purple cone flowers and sedum planted there.

I also plant pansies in window boxes during April and May. Then I pull them out and replant with something else for the summer. One year I tried to keep them longer and they looked terrible. I've never tried to over-winter pansies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Web
nornster
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for all of the advice. With all of the cool, rainy weather we've had, the pansies still look great, but we'll see how they fare come June or July.

On a related note, does anyone know how long after the tulip has faded should the foliage be let alone? What about the stem that the flower was on - is it okay to cut that down earlier?
wannab
17 years ago
I find that the large pansies do not winter over so well, but if you get the Viola's they come back year after year, and also reseed so you have lots. I don't mean the Johnny Jump Up's, but they also come back. Here in Mi U.P. if you have them in a partly shady area they will bloom all summer.
paul_
17 years ago
I have had pansies reseed and survive our hot summers. But as wannab said -- the violoas & Johnny Jump Ups do seem to be better about coming back/reseeding. I too have noticed that in a partly shady location they will bloom off and on all summer.
nornster
Original Author
17 years ago
I went back to the garden center where I bought the pansies recently - they said religiously dead-heading them should keep them looking fresh, and so far it's worked, but it hasn't been super-hot yet.

After all this, though, I think I'm going to dig up the tulip bulbs this fall. The foliage just browned enough to pull up the last of the leaves/stems LAST WEEK, and to me the foliage looked junky for a long time. (As well as the pansies are doing, they weren't tall enough to hide the tulips.) Thanks for the suggestions of planting perennials like peonies, but I think I'm going to replant the bulbs in a bed of goutweed that I inherited from the previous owner of my house. The blossoms should provide some much needed spring color in that area, and then the foliage won't look too out of place as the goutweed really starts to take off in early summer.

Thanks for everyone's help!