Cool Wave Pansies

It’s no secret that I think pansies may be the perfect cool season flowering annual for our landscapes and gardens. Today I’m visiting Standing Pine Nursery checking out what may be an even better pansy for us to grow, Cool Wave pansies with their trailing habit. This unique growth habit makes Cool Wave a must have in your garden. Cool Wave trailing pansies are much more vigorous than the standard pansy varieties. The plants are well branched and will really fill a landscape bed or hanging basket with good color from fall all the way to next spring. The flower colors are very attractive and there is quite a selection. Along with white, yellow and purple there is Violet Wing and its happy duo of colors combining white with elegant velvety deep purple wings; Frost with its abundance of white flowers lightly shaded lavender-blue; Blueberry Swirl with plentiful flowers having yellow faces surrounded by baby blue; and my favorite Sunshine N’ Wine with its bright sunny yellow with mellow burgundy wing and accented flowers. All of the flowers have whisker lines radiating from the center resembling delicate artist brush strokes. One particular attribute that impresses me about pansies in the garden and landscape is their cold tolerance. The Cool Wave trailing pansies are no different. These plants are hardy through USDA Zone 5 and so are well adapted to our Mississippi growing zones. Cool Wave trailing pansies need to be grown in the full sun, at least six hours each day, for the best flowering and growth. I’m horticulturist Gary Bachman for Southern Gardening.