Your videos are so helpful! I live in central Virginia, zone 7a and I really appreciate the experience and knowledge you provide, especially because you are in a similar climate. I did not know you could plant snapdragons in fall!
I always plant pansies in large pots in the fall for the front and back porch. That way I have them all through winter until it warms up in early summer.
Looks great!. I’m right near you so thanks for these videos. Really helps me to plan what I want to put in my beds next year. It will be my first time with annuals and shrubs so I’m excited to get started in the spring.
Gosh, that looks nice. I haven’t bought pansies yet bc it’s way too warm still here. Hopefully they won’t all be gone when I am ready to buy and plant. Tfs. You’re getting a lot done. 👏🏻💕👏🏻
Had no idea Snapdragons can be planted this late in the season. Thanks for all the great content, Jim. I've learned so much from watching your channel!
I love how you point out how fragile they are then just toss them around. I'm probably being entirely too gentle with mine if you can still toss the fragile ones like you're playing cornhole. Made me laugh.
I dead head pansies upon planting, usually the blooms are somewhat tattered after handling and planting them. This way all upcoming blooms start at the same time. Can't plant yet here in CA 92 degrees for the next 3-4 days.
I am late watching this because I have been out planting violas! I used Flower Tone which I now see has three different kinds of nitrogen. The Flower Tone should work fine, shouldn't it? Thanks so much for the very useful information! Wow! I have learned so much from you and I have only been watching your videos for about a year! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You mention the pansies needing a cool-weather form of nitrogen (nitrate) vs the kind typically found in fertilizers (ammoniacal). The fertilizer in the link lists ammoniacal. Is there another one that has the nitrate nitrogen? Thanks!
I would have mixed the snapdragons with the pansies. I don't care for mass plantings of pansies. It reminds me of a shopping center parking lot. I'm mixing cabbages and kales with mine. =)
My pansies kind of wilted immediately after i planted. Like in a few hours! Did I do something wrong? Also it's forecasted to rain all next week. Should I cover them?
Is the nitrate nitrogen on your amazon store? I'd like to get or find that. I just bought pansies and violas today here in zone 7A just north of you in Va. It looks like I may have jumped the gun on getting the plants because the weather people said it's getting into the 90's all week and its Sept 2. Is there a way to preserve them until it starts to cool off. I will be planting them in fabric pot containers hopefully today so is it best to keep them in the shade except for morning sun? I hope my garden center has snapdragons. I haven't seen them yet. Anyway, great video and will be checking out others shortly. Thank you for sharing.
I was going layer tulip and hyacinth bulbs in my pots with pansies on top, but then I found out squirrels like to eat pansies. I will still have to use chicken wire to keep them from the bulbs, but maybe I will put snapdragons on top since apparently they don't eat those. The squirrels won the pumpkin war in my backyard.
Jim its really hard to find products locally for gardening now. I am wondering since we do have a tractor supply, if I could use alphalpha pellets that are worked into the soil before planting. they are rich in nitrogen. I know a little can go a long way. what do you think?
I kinda gave up on pansies and migrated to white cabbages for winter annuals. Mostly because for some reason the rabbits devour the pansiesvery quickly but dont seem interested in the cabbages.
Try calendula offcinalis, mathiola incana flor fall gorgeous flowers and also mathiola is a scented flower. Just one flower of both species gives you a ton of viable seeds, so you could save a lot to make borders, bed flowers, and save money. You also can directly sow both seeds in the soil, with no dig at all. Water the soil before trow down the seeds or just wait for a rainy week, label the soil and forget about. They will emerge early if are from fresh harvest seed, with you will save time on potting mix and trays. Or if you want a specific design on you landscape you can go for sowing in pots or tray, just be careful to not let the nursery dry out.
Are snapdragons as cold hardy as pansies? Rabbits literally sit in my yard and dare me to plant pansies. Can only do them in fenced raised beds. Have done netting on top in ground level beds in prior years but it’s a pain and rabbits have started chewing right through it.
In my zone I sow snapdragons in trays in late agust early September or directly sow from early September to the end of October. Some of them stay all the winter in a very small way if the are in a very compacted and sticky clay soil, but next spring they take a sprint, grow in a great way and came out with gorgeous early flowers that stay all the season long. I use to cut off seed heads to prolong flowering. If you plant a snapdragon flower in fall you will have a similar flower cycle like viola feline or primrose or bellis perenis. But if you deadhead spent flowers you can prolong the flowering season. I had hardy long frost period in my zone and a few days of snow and never lost a snapdragon plant due that.
If you use the compost, you may be fine without it until it starts warming up in the spring. Then just use regular fertilizer of your choice. I just don't want people to dump urea nitrogen all winter long that isn't being used. It can do more harm than good.
Will the pansies grow in quickly since you have warm winters? Also since you put 4 inches of compost and bark on is that enough for the water to drain? I have clay soil (in the Sacramento Valley in CA) and I think everything is just kind of sitting in water even though the dirt on top is draining.....
They will grow until the real cold gets here and then they will kinda go dormant until it starts to warm back up. Then they will be amazing for a few months. The bark and compost are all about drainage really.
Hi Jim, which pansy fertilizer do you use? I looked up requirements for pansies, it says 15-2-20; it's extremely difficult to find. Trying to not have my pansies stretch so much this year, think the right food will help. Thanks for your help
