Bright, cheerful and oh-so-easy to grow, pansies are the quintessential spring flower, perfect for container gardening or backyard landscaping.

You don’t need a green thumb to grow pansies—just follow our 5 easy guidelines:  

1. Buy bushy plants with lots of buds, avoiding any with lots of open or withered blossoms.
2. Put pansies in direct sunlight, where they’ll bloom best. When planting them in the ground, position 6-10” apart to allow for root expansion.
3. Plant pansies in loose soil mixed with granular or time-release fertilizer and be sure to use the amount recommended on the packaging.
4. Water pansies once a week or more during droughts, in the morning if possible.
5. Encourage more blooms by pinching off dead flowers. If the plants start to seed, trim them back. They’ll thrive in cool weather but tend to wilt as temperatures rise. If desired, trim back the plants and continue to water regularly and fertilize monthly. They’ll begin blooming again in the fall, though sometimes they just can’t survive the summer.