Pansy and viola genetics combine to give us the Panola™ pansy series. Flowers are larger than violas and plants bloom more generously than other pansies. Like violas, this series is effective at covering the soil so Panolas™ are often sold as spreading pansies. Silhouette Mix is one of the prettiest selections, offering water-stained pastels and tiny dark faces.

Pretty soon buyers will be ordering for the Easter gift season, so let’s review what makes a better Azalea. While it is often considered a commodity crop, Azalea, like all plants, will respond favorably to careful growing practices rather than rushed tactics to cut corners.

Most cheap Azalea growers cut their costs by forcing plants into color in a hurry, usually through cranking the house hot and fast over a few short weeks. This cook-and-ship strategy turns out a weak plant that won’t last long in the home. It results in fewer buds and less vibrant colors because plants are not allowed enough time to fully develop the chemicals that power both the scent and the color of the blossoms. When brought on too warm and too fast, plants will develop a washed-out look.

We’ve mentioned in several articles that Pansies are, at heart, color-changers. Each flower aims to be a true individual and one of the best Pansy cultivars to show off this trait is ‘Delta Fire’. We’re not talking about flowers on different plants—even on the same plant, each flower strives to be special and unique: some are deep red with little highlights of yellow, whereas others are bronze-red with heavy splashes of yellow. Other flowers in the same tray might be mostly yellow with barely a hint of red.

Retail centers—it’s time to get your game on. If you don’t have color already, you should; the bleaker the winter, the greater the desire for color once the first warm weekend arrives. Temperatures don’t always remain warm this time of year, so customers will be looking for cool weather performance as well. In this issue of Field Notes, we’ve ranked our available crops by their ability to handle the cold nights; fortunately, we have an assortment of choices to add variety to your early spring color benches. The following are shipping this week: