A versatile and useful set of bedding plants pansies and violas come in many different colours and patterns. Viola cornuta was introduced from Europe during the 18th century and used to breed the pansy. Since then hybrids have been developed to create elaborate patterns and colours.
Meadow Croft Garden Centre is staging a special pansy and viola festival between 09 to 17 March 2024 and the event is now celebrating its twentieth anniversary.
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Each year new and experimental varieties are displayed for the first time. All the plants for the festival are grown by W.D Smith & Son, owners of Meadow Croft Garden Centre in their own glasshouses nearby, and then moved to the Garden Centre for the festival.
Mike Smith, Director of Meadow Croft Garden Centre, he says: “We get genetics from all over the world. The breeding industry for plants is huge… We have around 260 varieties [grown and on display for the festival].”
Ken Crowther talks to Mike Smith, Director of Meadow Croft Garden Centre in Battlesbridge, Essex about the growing of violas and pansies.
Difference between pansies and violas
Pansies are often grown as annuals, but they can survive one growing season and return. The flowers usually decline in the second season meaning they are actually a short-lived perennial.
The main differences are if the bloom has four petals pointing upward, and one petal pointing downward, it is a pansy. If the flower has two petals pointing upward and three pointing downward, it is a viola. Violas are smaller than pansies, and they bloom abundantly.
The planting season for pansies begins during March and the flowers can produce blooms throughout the summer. Autumn and winter flowering versions of pansies can be planted towards the end of summer.
Mike Smith says that violas are very hardy and can handle the cold weather well, so violas can be planted during the autumn for spring colour.
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