A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Flowers with Faces


My Hubby and I were remembering, just this morning, that years ago...we were given boxes of seeds to sell each spring. We would get a mixture of veggie and flower seeds in a box. There were good prizes awarded to the highest salesperson. He always got a prize, but I wasn't that good at selling. The proceeds went to the school for special needs. My Dad would buy all the veggie seeds for his huge vegetable garden. He wasn't too big on flowers and my Mom hardly went outdoors. She was a "house" wife. LOL We had a garden that was the envy of the neighborhood.
One flower that I do remember from my childhood is the pansy. I'd look each flower over carefully, inspecting every pansy "face"they were so cute looking like a small face. Pansy actually comes from the French word pensee, meaning "remembrance" or "thought"; thus when a bouquet of pansies is given to you, it means, "I'm thinking of you."
Nicknames include heartsease, love-in-idleness, call-me-to-you, jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me and faces-under-the-hood. Biblically, because of its tricolor, the pansy is often considered a symbol of the Trinity. This is the reason so many use pansies in Church gardens.
There are a lot of folk tales about these little gems. Should a pansy bloom in autumn, it was believed that a plague would soon follow. A pansy picked when dew is still fresh on its petals, it was believed, could cause the death of a loved one. If rain has been lacking, lore has it that if you pick a pansy, the clouds will soon open up. Dream of this tricolored beauty, and you can expect troubles to brew with a good friend.

Pansy petals and leaves are edible and high in vitamins A and C, so put a few on top of the salad. I have done this, but no one eats them.

Within a mere 50 years, the pansy made it across the Atlantic to America, and its popularity soared. It is one of the favorite flowers of all time. Pansies are larger than they used to be. They can tolerate cool weather. They thrive in the spring, but they get leggy and not so pretty if we have a hot summer. Plant them where they will get morning sun and afternoon shade. Maybe put them in a pot...so it can be moved around the yard. Plant them in masses, five to seven plants in a group. Keep them watered and they may reseed. As with your other annuals, deadhead regularly and fertilize faithfully. I'm thinking that my little gardening friend, Audra would like to plant these this year. Last year she planted nasturtium seeds and they were great. When I lived in my other home a friend would always leave me a May basket and pansies were always included. My garden center had a sign out that they would soon have pansies. I will be the first in line to buy some. My hubby loves these little plants with faces. I think that I'll plant a pot full and surprise him.
Balisha
PS...The folklore about pansies was found on the internet.

7 comments:

Sweetie said...

I love the pansy. It is the first plant that I put in the ground each year as it is so hardy. They usually bloom in our area until the middle of June.
Sweetie

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

I just finished reading about 6 of your blogs. With me up and down the road to building site I am not reading much. You are such a good writer and I find them all interesting. I enjoyed them so very much.

Anonymous said...

This was so interesting! When my mom was a little girl in Oregon they made May baskets with pansies, but she can't remember much about why they celebrated May Day. She does remember the flowers, though!

Elenka said...

Ohhh, boo hoo, I am sooooo far away from planting anything, whether it has faces or not. Enjoy your flowers for me.

Balisha said...

Hi ladies,
I am not close to planting outside either.I am going to do some stick picking up tomorrow, as the weather is going to be nice. Pansies will be here soon though. I am going to do a post on May baskets later this spring.Thankyou for your comments.

Anonymous said...

They are such happy little flowers and I couldn't imagine my garden without them in the winter & early spring. What a nice surprise that will be for your hubby! :)

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

I can't wait for your "May Basket" post!! To me, flowers are like my children. I love each one for who they are and cannot ever pick a favorite.
Hugs to you my friend.
Mona