Bright biennial pansies can give months of enjoyment during cool weather before the abundance of warm weather annuals are marketed for the garden. Even if you do not have room to add pansies to your garden, a pansy wreath can make a colourful addition to your door or table top.
HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED:
1. A wire Living Wreath Ring and liner kit
2. A good light potting soil
3. Scissors and Plyers
4. A flat of small pansy plants (48 or 36 per flat)
5. A trash can lid, wheel barrow or other container to hold water for soaking the wreath
Insert the liner into the concave wreath form. Sprinkle the liner with water and slightly moisten the potting soil so it holds together when you squeeze it in your hand but does not drip water. Fill the liner about 2/3 full with the moist potting soil.
Lightly moisten the bottom liner and place the flat wire wreath form on top being careful to tuck the bottom liner’s edges inside. With your plyers, bend the side wires around the bottom wreath form.
Turn over the wreath. It will not be completely filled with soil to allow room for the pansy roots.
Cut an X with your scissors into one of the inner sections and open it slightly so it is just wide enough to insert a pansy.
Insert a pansy and continue adding pansies around the interior sections of the wreath. When finished the inner sections add pansies to the outside sections of the wreath. You might want to line up your pansies by color and rotate them as you work around the wreath.
After you completely fill in each section, remove any old leaves and flowers with your scissors. Place your wreath in a container such as a trash can lid or wheel barrow and add water to just below the flowers. Let the wreath soak up water for about an hour until the soil feels wet. Then empty the container of water and allow the pansies to root for about 5 – 10 days on a flat surface in the sun. Moisten if necessary.
Hang the wreath over a wreath hook on your door or place it in a plastic saucer on an outdoor table in a sunny spot.
Check the wreath for moisture and sprinkle with a hose for place it in a shallow container of water to moisten. Remove old flowers, leaves and seed heads to keep your wreath fresh. As hot weather approaches the pansies will beome long and spindly. You can remove the pansies and replant the wire form with warm weather annuals such as Impatiens.
Wire wreath forms are available at garden centers and on line. Directions with my wreath form suggested planting on the flat side of the wreath but I find leaving the flat side unplanted works better against a door.
