In northern regions with cool summers, they’re planted in spring and may flower all season long, until a freeze in late fall kills the plants. The types most often sold commercially are known as Viola × wittrockiana or by the older name, Viola tricolor var. Plants remain alive and can rebound when soil temperatures shift. Temperatures that dip to 25 degrees will likely damage the flowers on pansies. In hot-summer/mild-winter climates, pansies are often planted in fall, and they’ll bloom all winter into spring, until rising temperatures cause the plants to flag. They love cool weather and will add tons of color to the winter landscape in frost-free regions. The roots cannot absorb water from the frozen soil. Frozen soil and drying winds can kill the … The black discoloration is due to fungal spores within the root. All stages of pansies can be infected and killed. This publication provides guidelines for the planting and care of pansies to ensure success, including planting time, bed preparation, plant spacing, planting procedures, fertilization, freeze protection, and common insect and disease problems. Growing 6 to 8 inches tall, pansies are ideal for container gardens or mass plantings around trees or along garden walkways. Pansies prefer cool temperatures. It is a good idea to monitor the weather, as temperatures that drop into the low 20s can damage even the most cold-tolerant annuals, such as pansies. Pansies are a form of cultivated, hybridized violet, noted for their large multi-colored flat flowers and their fondness cool temperatures. Aim to get winter pansies in the ground a few weeks before soil temperatures hit that 45º F mark. Pansies are a symbol of love and affectionate thoughts (their name is thought to derive from the French word for thought). The spores can be seen with the aid of a 15-20x magnifying glass, hand lens, or microscope. The disease can be especially destructive during late summer months when temperatures are high and when the substrate pH is higher than 6.0. Pansies come in a wide assortment of colors and bi-colors, many with super cute face patterns on the petals. After germination, keep the temperature as low as you can. If you intend to use yours as winter houseplants, avoid damage by moving or covering them whenever temperatures are slated to fall below 29 F. Happy gardening! 2019 Note: I posted my 2019 list of Winter Kill Temperatures of Cold-Hardy Vegetables on April 30, 2019 March 2020 Update: Click the link. This is usually most apparent in shady beds and northern exposure settings. David Goforth of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension says pansies can survive up to eight hours at 10 F. Longer periods of very cold temperatures will kill them. A good 2 to 4 inch layer of mulch (pinebark, pinestraw, or shredded hardwood bark) should help make for health, happy pansies. Here’s the long version of one of the slideshows I presented on January 13 at the Future Harvest CASA conference.Since I got home, I updated my Winter-Kill Temperatures list, which appears in the slideshow. temperature, mulches help prevent weeds from germinating! They may even survive a hard freeze, which is 28 F. Both snapdragons and pansies can survive short periods of 20 F weather, but they will probably suffer frost damage. In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the juice of a pansy was used in a love potion, referencing the Ancient Greeks’ and Celts’ use of the flower in herbal remedies and love potions. Plant out hardened-off … Between 50 and 65 degrees is ideal, but room temperature is acceptable. What is the lowest temperature Pansies can tolerate? Temperatures below 25 F will kill stem tissue too, so -- with the exception of a few of the more obscure species -- geraniums usually won't survive a hard freeze. When soil temperatures drop below 45º F, pansy roots shut down, which means above-ground growth and flowering grinds to a halt. When temps fall below 10 degrees for several hours, this is extreme cold for Pansies and Violas. hortensis.Most are F1 hybrids derived from crossing V. tricolor with V. lutea and V. altaica.