Rowlett – As summer’s heat fades, North Texas gardens begin their quiet transformation. While many plants retreat until spring, pansies and violas step forward to keep color in our landscapes through the cooler months. Thanks to our region’s mild winters, these cool-season flowers thrive when others can’t, often blooming from October all the way into April.
The Perfect Choice for Our Climate
Pansies and violas are cool-weather specialists. A freeze won’t bother them, in fact, it can make their colors more vivid. Because Northeast Texas rarely experiences long hard freezes, these annuals continue to flourish long after the first cold snap, providing steady color through winter.
Pansies vs. Violas
Though often planted side by side, the two have distinct personalities.
- Pansies offer large, showy blooms and a broad palette of colors ideal for mass plantings or container displays.
- Violas—their smaller, more delicate cousins produce more blooms per plant and often outperform pansies during the coldest stretches of winter. Many gardeners mix the two for maximum resilience and variety.
Planting Tips for Success
Plant pansies and violas once daytime highs settle around 90°F, typically by early October in our area. They prefer full sun and well-drained soil enriched with compost. Water deeply but infrequently to encourage strong roots, and apply a slow-release fertilizer formulated for blooming plants.
Design Ideas
These cheerful flowers pair beautifully with ornamental kale, dusty miller, snapdragons, and alyssum. Use them to refresh porch planters, border walkways, or fill the gaps where summer annuals once stood. Choose complementary or contrasting color schemes—think deep purples and golds for warmth, or cool blues and whites for a crisp winter look.
Enjoy the Color All Winter
Pansies and violas remind us that our gardens don’t have to go dormant when the temperature drops. With the right care, they’ll reward you with blooms through the short days of winter and into early spring—another small reason to love living in North Texas.
Nathan has been part of Covington’s Nursery for nearly three decades. Guided by the belief that growth often begins quietly, he continues to learn from the garden and share those lessons with his community
