Pansy ‘Delta Premium Yellow with Purple Wing’

A classic Pansy look for the opening of spring

As a Pansy, ‘Delta Premium Yellow with Purple Wing’ has a long and winding name, and it’s similar to the names for the yellow and yellow blotch versions. ‘Purple Wing’, however, is one of the classic forms we associate with the opening of spring: a cheeky yellow face with a thick beard and purple top petals. Purple usually sits over the top petals and sometimes lines the side petals as well.

Although closely associated with Violas, this traditional look is also a major style that sells Pansies. A pretty face is important when planning an early spring program for the retail bench or landscape contract, but this popular variety backs up that charm with a number of other solid traits.

Purple coloration varies greatly from flower to flower 

Every Flower an Individual

A signature feature of ‘Purple Wing’ is the sheer wonkiness of the flower face. While the purple heavily drapes some flowers, it barely shows up at all in others. Petals tend to stir some twists and twirls into the shape—they’re not quite ruffled but are darn close to it. You would be hard pressed to find two blooms that are alike on any one plant.

Other professionals have noticed this quirk because ‘Purple Wing’ gets dinged when it appears in university trial gardens around the United States. “Needs more consistency” and “lack of uniformity” are frequent comments. Whether you agree with them is a matter of personal preference, rather like the eternal traditional vs Pringles potato chip debate.

Generous color and enhanced vigor are reasons to select Delta Premium Pansies

A Walk on the Wild Side

If you need strong consistency ‘Delta Premium Yellow’, ‘Delta Premium Yellow with Blotch’ and ‘Delta Premium Blue with Blotch’ are the Pansies to use. On the other hand, if you revel in the randomness of nature go with ‘Purple Wing’. It still has a lot of wild blood in its veins. To be honest, we like to support it precisely because of its lack of uniformity and its desire to color outside the lines. That little unexpected twist adds an extra dimension to a garden.

It’s rare to find two blooms the same on any one plant

Care and Culture

Delta Pansies have a tight, upright habit without much spilling. They sit up in the pot or garden like a specimen, so we plant them closer than we do for a trailing series. This lack of stretching has two benefits: it gives Deltas a longer shelf life on the retail bench, and it keeps landscape beds looking prime for a much longer time before they become tired and need to be refreshed. Height is right down the middle. Grown out in the garden, the mound will be about 6 inches, give or take an inch. Flower size is standard at about 3 inches.

The Premium in the name also means something. In Delta-speak, it refers to those cultivars with enhanced vigor. Since the underlying plant is stronger, it is also capable of starting the season earlier, finishing up later, and handling a wide variety of weather conditions, warm or cool. Delta Premium is Syngenta's go-to series for most applications for standard Pansy sizes. When planting, we strongly recommend full sun, which also controls overall plant vigor. Delta still blooms in partial shade, only with fewer sugars to power the coverage.

‘Purple Wing’ buds with purple but unfolds to reveal a yellow center

Logical Companions

If you are looking for companions, some cultivars become obvious choices. First is ‘Delta Premium Pure Yellow’, the clear version. Yellow is the base for both plants with the purple as a fancy look that is switched ON/OFF. Mixing the two 50/50 makes the purple more of an accent than a dominant element of the garden.

A very close sibling to ‘Purple Wing’ is ‘Delta Premium Yellow with Blotch’. It has the same face but without the purple trimmings. Rather, it upgrades a dark face to the base yellow in the garden, which carries over into the fancy purple version. This mix is a lot of fun if you design two-toned containers.

We sell Pansy ‘Delta Premium Yellow with Purple Wing’ in three sizes:

• 1203 flats
• 306 market baskets
• 10-inch bowls