The Pansy Flower - Some Facts and Photos

Pansies are beautifully intricate flowers, that despite their "pansy" name, can sometimes be very strong under certain conditions. For instance when it freezes, they can sometimes survive a layer of thick ice over their surface for a day or so. I have had this happen in my garden, and it makes the pansy a great flower for early and late in the seasons where it can freeze in the Midwest USA and other areas as well.

They are a very romantic and thought provoking flower. One of Hallmark's all time best selling cards has a pansy on it. It is still in production, and it is because of what the pansy symbolizes in part. Sending caring thoughts to another is perfectly expressed through a pansy.

With the variety of pansies available to the home gardener now days, its very easy to brighten up one's garden space quickly. The color range is large, from deep rich colors to the lighter pastels.

Pansies and violas are in the same family, though pansies are larger in general. Evidently, there are both Winter flowering varieties, and Summer flowering types. The Winter types are perfect for potted gardens in the Winter, when many other flowers have died off. So you have a container garden or hope to start one, perhaps consider pansies at least part of the year. They do tend to like rich soil, so start them off with good rich soil. I usually use a Miracle Grow Soil mix or something like that. It isn't necessary, but is very helpful I have seen. It was a tip I got from my Great Aunt Betty, who is an avid gardener. I didn't believe much in the name brands of soils, until she showed me her success, and I am a believer now!

Below in some of the photos, you can see some ideas that others have done with pansies. I liked the curving patterns some gardeners did with the petunias. Most of the others are from my own potted garden.

One last tip that has proven very helpful for my blooming pansies, is to remove the dead or spent flowers as you see them. It allows for the plants energy to go towards making new flowers, instead of seeds.

These flowers are easy to grow and a joy to see in bloom. They have no extra special needs to be concerned about. You can see, they will attract some moths and butterflies on occasion as well, as one of my photos shows. For flower pressing, pansies are among the best flowers, as are violas. There are a number of crafts one can make from pansy flowers that are pressed and dried, as well as violas. I have seen gift bags, bookmarks, gift tags, framed flower art, as well as adorning all kinds of other things.