It’s Green Thumb Sunday, You Pansy!
It’s Green Thumb Sunday!
And today, I’m featuring this lovely little pansy from my front garden.
Pansies are just about the easiest flower to grow in the world. They love cool weather and they’ll tolerate some heat (though they don’t love extreme heat). They’re fairly resistant to drought. The oddest thing about them is how quickly they “come back to life” if they lose steam due to drought or heat. Give ‘em some water and a little love and poof! You’ve got your plant back. Perhaps that’s how they got their nickname “Johnny Jump Ups” (and I’m not making that bit up).
The other interesting thing about pansies is their markings. A lot of people think that the markings resemble faces. In fact, my good college chum, Malis, used to be terrified of them when she was a little girl because her older brother had convinced her that they were people trapped in flowers. Even in college, she couldn’t walk by a field of them without getting the willies.
At any rate, bizarre phobias aside, what’s not to love about the pansy?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:31 am
Hi there,
Sorry to rain on your garden, but Pansies aren’t Johnny Jump Ups. Violas (one of my faves) are Johnny Jump Ups. Violas are the much smaller flower that looks like a pansy, but instead of being solid in color or splotches that look like faces, they have thin black lines in the center with half their petals being a light lavender and the other half yellow. And yes, even when we lived in Alaska at 60 below, they would overwinter and pop up everywhere in the Spring/Summer–even in the cracks of our drive way. Here’s a resource of the differences between pansies and violas:
Pansies and Johnny-Jump-Ups
April 1st, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I love these smiling faces. Beautiful flowers.
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:13 am
Oh that’s very pretty. I love the rich yellow.
Pansies and Violas totally die down here once summer hits since our summers are so hot and humid.
Hey don’t forget to visit some of the other Green Thumb participants too please.