| For fall flowers, you can start them from seed in mid-summer and they will be ready to go when the cooler fall temperatures arrive. Plants for the spring should be started 6-8 weeks before the last frost is expected. The seeds will germinate in a couple of weeks at 65-70 degrees and should be kept at around 50 degrees once they have germinated to encourage stocky plant growth. Popular varieties include Atlas Needlepoint Pansy viola x wittrockiana Atlas Needlepoint; Pansy Ultima Morpho Hybrid Viola wittrockiana Ultima Morpho Hybrid and Park's Pansy Heartfelt Hybrid Viola x wittrockiana Park's Sentiments Heartfelt Hybrid. When purchasing pansies from the garden center, the usual guidelines about buying nursery plants should apply- look for plants that are stocky with plenty of flower buds. Plants that have a lot of flowers or are tall and leggy may have been stressed and don't represent the best value. We usually get some for our window boxes in late winter from the garden center and they do well until May or June when the hot weather knocks them back a bit. We are located in NE Ohio about 20 miles south of Lake Erie. We usually toss them in the compost pile in June and add the summer flowers to our window boxes. We are going to experiment with transplanting or moving planting them to a shady, out of the way place once we remove them from the window boxes next summer and bringing them back in the fall. When in doubt, check with your local garden center for advice, they know best about your local climate when it comes to plants. | 
