Ed's Questions & Answers on email about Pansy Planting

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 Help.... I am having a "Pansy Blight".  I have an old canoe that I've used
for a planter for about six years.  I love it full of pansies, but both last
year and this, they yellow out then shrivel up and die!  Last year I thought
it was a heat wave (yes, we have heat waves in Jackson Hole, WY) as it
seemed to happen after about six days in the 90's.  Then this year, it
happened earlier with no hot days???!!!  What have you heard?  Is anyone
else experiencing this dilemma??

Thanks,  Libbe in Jackson Hole, WY

Dear Libbe,

The symptoms you described to me indicate that by planting pansies in the
same location for 6 years has created a disease detrimental to the pansies.
Try planting other varieties of flowers other than pansies.
Good farmers do not plant the same crop year after year in the same soil.
The best soil for pansies is any soil which contains plenty of humus,
well rotted manure, peat moss, or leaf mold mixed with the soil.
Slightly acid reaction is best.
Pansies bloom best in the cool weather of Spring or summer. 
In an exposed place they deteriorate in the heat.
Also heavy bloom exhausts the plants.
Ed Ando

Enjoy each day as life is short