Hmmmm, they should be able to take colder temperatures than that. As I look around Huntsville, I see that most of the pansies have taken the sudden drop in temperatures fairly well.

Did you plant them very recently? And are you certain that they aren't over OR under watered? Pansies are among those plants that can make their own 'anti-freeze', so to speak, They need, however, to have all of their living cells packed with water (turgid) in order to do that. If the root system isn't working like it should for whatever reason, perhaps that is the reason for the damage. Check under the mulch to be certain that the soil is damp.

We've had more than one person find out that their soil was bone dry under damp mulch. People don't realize how much more you have to water to get the soil wet through inches of organic mulch. Anyway, I suspect that the issue is under under the soil, and has nothing to do with the pansies in general.

It's an important practice to make sure that your plants are well watered AND that they have a healthy and growing root system before a freeze or frost.

The pansies look slightly better today, so maybe it was just "shock" from their first well below freezing temps. I'll let you know in a few days how they look. I don't think it's a lack of water, because we got 1.5 inches of rain a couple of days ago. Plus, they're on a sprinkler system.

Pansies look horrible after a freeze, but revive nicely once it warms up. Don't give up on them.

Laura

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. They do still look alive. Maybe they just need a few days of sun in order to perk up.