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.