Do Pansies Reseed?

Deadheading and Reseeding

• Pansies can be encouraged to bloom multiple times if deadheaded, which means pinching off the spent blossoms. If it is near the end of their growing season, a good practice is to allow the spent blossoms to remain on the stems where they will form seeds. When removing the dead foliage, remember to shake the plants over the soil to dislodge any seeds that haven't already fallen to the ground.

Adaptability

• Although they don't usually survive extreme summer heat, pansies grow well as annuals down South during the winter. Conversely, they don't overwinter in the Midwest, but do well there as summer annuals. If sheltered close to foundations, they often blossom in snowy areas such as Colorado during mid-winter. Texas A&M University notes that pansies blossom year round in many regions of California.

Colors and Foliage

• Pansies can grow up to 9 inches tall and wide. They have one of the broadest arrays of colors among flowers, according to Texas A&M University, producing blossoms in shades of red, purple, blue, bronze, pink, black, yellow, white, lavender, orange, apricot and mahogany. Sometimes they are solid colors; other times they are variegated and have what is known as a "face" -- an arrangement of stripes that mimic eyes and a mouth. Each plant produces multiple stems with oval- or heart-shaped leaves that are notched.

History

• The ancient Greeks cultivated the viola family for medicinal purposes as well as beauty. Pansies are still used today in herbal remedies for problems ranging from eczema to urinary problems. The wild pansy V. tricolor was discovered in Europe after the 4th Century B.C. and was named for the French word "pensée" meaning "thought." Advances made in England during the 19th Century produced larger blossoms and a wider range of colors. By the 1850s, pansies had crossed the Atlantic and won the hearts of American gardeners who purchased up to 100,000 seed packets a year by 1888, according to Texas A&M.