Violas, which include true violas and the larger-faced pansies, are celebrated for their long bloom season, often starting in early spring. These colorful flowers are cool-weather bloomers, thriving in mild temperatures between 40°F and 70°F. Proper maintenance after the initial flush of flowers is important for sustaining this color display or preparing the plant for the next growing season. Understanding the specific care steps needed once a flower fades helps redirect the plant’s energy toward new growth rather than seed production.
Removing Spent Flowers
The most common post-flowering task is removing spent blooms, a process known as deadheading. This action prevents the plant from diverting energy into creating a seed capsule, which signals the end of the flowering cycle. By removing the faded flower, the plant is tricked into continuing its reproductive effort by producing new buds and flowers.
To deadhead a viola effectively, the entire flower stem should be removed, not just the wilted petals. Locate the stem and pinch or snip it off at its base, right above the first set of healthy leaves. Performing this simple task regularly, perhaps once or twice a week, will encourage a longer and more abundant flowering period, particularly in the spring and fall.
Cutting Back Leggy or Overgrown Plants
After a large, sustained flush of blooms, violas can become “leggy,” meaning their stems grow long, sparse, and untidy. This lanky appearance, where foliage is thin and flowers are scarce, indicates that simple deadheading is no longer sufficient to restore a dense growth habit. A more drastic measure is necessary to promote rejuvenation.
When a viola plant develops this sprawling structure, gardeners can perform a technique called shearing or cutting back. This involves reducing the entire plant mass by about one-third to one-half of its height. Cutting the plant back encourages denser, bushier foliage from the base and stimulates a second wave of flowering. Violas can be cut back to about three to four inches tall to revive their compact form, especially before a cooler season returns.
Summer Care and Seasonal Decisions
Violas are cool-weather plants and face their greatest challenge during the intense heat of mid-summer. Temperatures consistently above 70°F can cause them to go dormant, stop flowering, or even die back entirely. Managing the plant during hot spells involves providing afternoon shade, which helps mitigate the stress of high temperatures.
Watering requires careful attention during summer; while violas need regular moisture, they should not sit in soggy soil, which can lead to root issues. Applying a layer of mulch helps keep the roots cool and maintains soil moisture, offsetting heat stress.
Gardeners must then make a seasonal decision: treat the violas as annuals or attempt to keep them as short-lived perennials or biennials. In hotter climates, many gardeners choose to treat violas as annuals, removing and replacing them with a more heat-tolerant flower when the violas stop blooming due to the heat. However, in milder climates, or with proper protection, violas can be kept by mulching heavily to help them survive the winter. They often bounce back and bloom again when cooler weather returns in the fall, especially if they are cut back in late summer.
Allowing Violas to Self-Seed
An alternative approach to active maintenance is to allow the spent flowers to remain on the plant. This choice means forgoing the immediate benefit of a prolonged bloom season, but it is necessary if the gardener desires new plants the following year. When the faded flowers are not removed, the plant naturally proceeds with its reproductive cycle, forming and maturing seed pods.
Once the seeds are fully developed, the pods will burst open, scattering the tiny seeds into the surrounding soil. This process, known as self-sowing, allows new violas to emerge as volunteer plants, often the following spring or fall. While self-seeding ensures future generations, the plant’s energy is channeled into seed production rather than the creation of additional flowers for the current season.