Viola Brush Strokes - Pansy

Viola 'Brush Stokes', or hybrid pansies, offer a very unusual long flowering period, with a low and bushy habit. These plants produce flowers in a riot of vibrant colours and refined harmonies. Each flower resembles a watercolour tattooed with an exotic design, like a unique masterpiece created by a highly inspired artist. These compact plants, often grown as biennials, perform exceptionally well in the garden, flowering from summer to autumn in containers and borders.

The group of Viola x williamsii are hybrids belonging to the viola family, resulting from the cross-breeding of V. wittrockiana (garden pansy) and V. cornuta, the horned violet. The 'Brush Strokes' selection consists of plants with a low and ramified habit, forming clumps 15cm (6in) tall and 20cm (8in) wide. They are distinguished by their rapid growth and extraordinary floribundity. Depending on the sowing date, these pansies will flower throughout the summer, until autumn, or even throughout winter. The flowers are quite small, but numerous, and all mix a variety of colours on their corollas composed of 5 petals. Whites, pinks, yellows, pale blues, reds, and mauves blend and arrange themselves in beautiful splashes. Some of them blend into the hues of dawn or sunset. The flowers are typical of pansies, with their petals arranged in open and round corollas. The plants spread quite rapidly thanks to their rhizomes.

Pansies, like horned violets, are intended for flowering in low flower beds, borders, as well as in pots and balconies, where they will be associated with other spring and summer flowering plants (Forget-me-nots, Dwarf Daffodils, Daisies, Primroses, Botanical Tulips, summer and autumn asters, etc.). The flowers of pansies and horned violets are edible, so don't hesitate to decorate your plates with one or two flowers, or even to add a few to your salads to give them a touch of colour.