After relocating to North Carolina from Connecticut, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that pansies stay in bloom all winter in the North Carolina climate. They are the one flower that can brighten up the brown winter landscape. Granted, the winters in North Carolina are certainly less harsh than those in New England, but we do have our share of gray skies here and the trees lose their leaves during the darker months. It's wonderful to be able to count on a bit of color from those perky pansies!
I'll share a few fun facts about pansies. The word, pansy, is derived from the French word, pensée, which means thought. Universally pansies are known as a symbol of remembrance and romance, and they have often been referenced in literature with images of lovers lost in thought about their soul mates.
Pansies are related to violets. The difference is that pansies have four petals pointing upwards and one pointing downwards, and violets have two petals pointing upwards and three pointing downwards.
Pansies can survive light freezes and snow cover. They are not very heat-tolerant.
In addition to their many hybrid hues, pansies are available in yellow, orange, gold, purple, red, white, violet, and a purple that is so dark it looks black!
Pansies are the symbolic flower of my college sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. We believed our sorority flower stood for friendship, and me and my sorority sisters had plenty of pansy jewelry to cement our sisterhood.
As long as they have good drainage, pansies will thrive either in the ground or in containers.
It's time for me to get some Miracle Grow for my pansy pots so the flowers stand tall!
