Do Hyacinths Bloom at the Same Time As Pansies?

Complementary Plants

• Hyacinths, grouped in odd-numbered clusters, provide vertical accents amid the spreading masses of pansy plants. The hyacinths also furnish fragrance, which the pansies lack. Planted together, the two species can be color coordinated. Pansies bloom in all colors except green and hyacinths bloom in shades of white, pink, yellow, rose, red, blue and purple. Once the hyacinths have finished blooming, the leafy pansies can help cover the ripening hyacinth foliage. In cooler climates the ripening process can go on for four weeks and pansies, with a longer bloom season, provide much-needed color as well as camouflage.

Combinations

• For an elegant all-white planting scheme, combine "White Pearl" hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis "White Pearl") with white pansies. Create something more dramatic by combining bright orange and purple "Jolly Joker" pansies (Violax wittrockiana "Jolly Joker") with a dark blue-purple hyacinth like "Blue Jacket" (Hyacinthus orientalis "Blue Jacket"). The sky-blue flowers of "True Blue" pansies (Viola x wittrockiana "True Blue"), make a lovely color combination with the soft yellow "City of Haarlem hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis "City of Haarlem").

Uses

• Pansies are low-growers and are best used close to the front of traditional beds and borders, with taller hyacinths behind them. Large numbers of pansies can also be used as a ground cover, flowing through drifts of hyacinths. Both plants are perfect for container culture. Hyacinths can be planted in large or medium-size weatherproof containers and left outdoors over the winter. When the tips of the hyacinths emerge in spring, plant young pansy "starter" plants in the spaces between hyacinths. In summer, after hyacinth foliage has gone and pansies have finished flowering, replace pansies with colorful annuals.

Culture

• Plant hyacinth bulbs in fall in either sunny locations or sites partially shaded by deciduous trees, so the plants will bloom while the trees finish leafing out. Pansies also thrive in part shade and will continue flowering longer if the shade, like that provided by deciduous trees, deepens in late spring. Water pansies regularly during dry periods and pinch off spent blooms to induce rebloom. Hyacinths only bloom once, but spent flowerstalks should be removed so that the plants put their energies into making future blooms. Do not remove spent foliage until it begins to turn brown.