Garden Gram #2: Can Pansies and Violas Be Cut Flowers?

The answer is yes; longer stems come with a little patience and a few tricks.

One of my favorite pansy varieties, Frizzle Sizzle, will develop longer stems over time, especially if picked frequently and planted close together in dappled shade.

Flower spotlight:

Pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) and Violas (Viola x cornuta)

The four flowers on the left are pansies; the four photos on the right show violas.

What’s the difference between pansies and violas?

• Pansies (above left) generally have larger blooms and longer stems than violas, their more petite cousins. Pansies can grow 8 to 12 inches tall, while violas (above right) top out about 6 inches.

• Pansies like more sun than violas; violas tolerate colder temperatures than pansies, though both like cool weather.

• The blooms of both have five petals. Pansy petals tend to overlap in almost a circular fashion, while the top two petals of a viola stick out like mouse ears, in my opinion. The experts say that violas have 2 petals facing up and 3 petals facing down; pansies have 4 petals facing up and one facing down. But I find that advice doesn’t always translate visually for me!

Viola Brush Strokes

Best Qualities

• Pansies and violas, in all the beautiful shades and patterns available today, are irresistibly (and infinitely) charming. Forget about the big floppy pansies that seem only to come in a few predictable colors. Today’s varieties come in spectacularly rich shades, from raspberry and blush apricot to burnt amber and black. Some like Tiger Eye are veined, others like Brush Strokes (above) are stippled, some like Frizzle Sizzle (my favorite) have ruffled leaves. One of the reasons I love Frizzle Sizzle (very top photo) is that the flower faces are medium-sized; they don’t get so big that they flop over, and the long stems can support them.