Planting guide

When to plant pansy and viola

Cheery faces that flower right through winter; the small violas are edible too. In Melbourne it goes in Feb–May.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Flowers in: 13–17 wks
Spacing: 20 cm
Depth: 0.2 cm
Sun: Half a day (3–6 hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Colours: purple, yellow, blue, white, red, multi
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means pansy and viola can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Canberra	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Hobart	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Launceston	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
New York City	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Chicago	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○
Toronto	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○
Berlin	○	○	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○

How to plant pansy and viola

Sow seed in trays in summer or buy seedlings in autumn.
Plant in sun in cool months, part shade in warm.
Feed lightly and keep moist.
Pick off dead flowers to keep them coming.

Pansy and viola varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Arkwright Ruby Classic13–17 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection
Bambini Mixed Classicdwarf · mixed · pot-friendly · 13–17 wksMixed colours
Clear Crystal Black Adventurous13–17 wksBlack flowers
Swiss Giants Rhinegold Classictall · 13–17 wksSold by Happy Valley, The Seed Collection
White Perfection Classic13–17 wksWhite flowers
Blue Perfection Classic13–17 wksBlue flowers

Where to buy seeds

Buy on Happy Valley Seeds Buy on The Seed Collection

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Pansy and viola by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Poppy · Petunia · Nigella · Celosia

Not sure pansy and viola is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now