Day twelve

Pansies get no respect. They're commonly associated with fragile wimpy-ness, when they are actually quite hardy. I love pansies because as the lady at our greenhouse says, they are 'flowers with faces'. But I also love them because they're bi-annuals which means that if I plant a whole bunch of them every year (which I do) - the next year some of them will always be back to greet me in the springtime, sometimes even before the snow is gone I'll see them poking out, looking all healthy and green. In the fall when all of the other flowers are wrinkled up and dried and dead after the first frost, the pansies still look perfect - nothing wrinkly or wilted or brown about them. The first snow will come, and the pansies will still be peeking out until they are covered up. Everything else in my garden is finished for the year, but the pansies are still going strong. And then they'll survive a harsh prairie winter and come out swingin' in the spring. I absolutely love them.

happy yellow pansies

My favorites, the antique blues