The Importance of Violas and Pansies

Pansies en masse

Our pansy crop is the first important mass color crop of the season. If you are in the business of providing Big Color to your clients, or you want to make money by painting the landscape with heavy color, then mastering the pansy family is important to you.

Intense red leaves of the ‘Scarlet Bor’ kale

If you’re looking for winter color, look at the Bor series of kale. ‘Scarlet Bor’ has incredibly dark leaves that make it through anything. Even though this was a mild winter, Scarlet Bor survived the best in our Winter Color Garden.

This hardy winter survivor is still showing its tightly bunched red leaves alongside the Panola pansies that are the first blooms to appear in our Winter Color Garden this spring.

Bor series stands up to anything

Asclepias red butterfly weed

Asclepias, also known as butterfly weed, is one of our offerings in conjunction with the Zoo’s Best Pollinator series at The Cincinnati Zoo. Monarch butterflies use the plant for egg laying as well as a source of nectar. You will also see hummingbirds, bees and other insects attracted by the showy red and yellow blooms.

Butterfly weed grows in full sun to about 3 feet tall. Plant in well-drained soil. We offer red and yellow butterfly weed plants in 1-quart pots.

Yellow butterfly weed