Pansies, The Flower
With a Face

Interesting Facts about Pansies

• The viola family includes both pansies and violets
• Some pansies have a delicate perfume-like aroma. Pansies seem to have more fragrance at early morning and dusk. yellow or blue pansy flowers seem to have the strongest scent.
• Both the leaves and flowers of pansies and violas are edible and high in vitamins A and C. They have a taste reminiscent of grapes and mint
• Pansy flowers are used to make syrup, honey and salad because of its strong flavor
• Wide range of dyes are prepared from pansy flowers.

Historical Facts about Pansies

• Pansies appeared in the early 1800s when William Thompson, an English gardener, bred several species of violas and created in 1839 the "face" type pansies that we know today The first was named 'Medora'.
• By the 1850's many varieties of pansies had been developed in England, Scotland and Switzerland.
• By the end of the century, a single-colored form with no "face" was bred by a Scottish grower, Charles Stewart.

Meaning of Pansies

• Loving thoughts
• Merriment
• Pansies with either Red Poppies, Marigolds or Pine Branches tell a person of your thoughts for them of consolation, despair and pity
• Heart's-ease

Quotes about Pansies

I pray, what flowers are these? The pansy this, O, that's for lover's thoughts. -- George Chapman

The beauteous pansies rise In purple, gold, and blue, With tints of rainbow hue Mocking the sunset skies. -- Thomas John Ouseley

And there is pansies, that's for thoughts. -- William Shakespeare

Heart's ease of pansy, pleasure or thought, Which would the picture give us of these? Surely the heart that conceived it sought Heart's ease. -- Algernon Charles Swinburne

Pansies in soft April rains Fill their stalks with honeyed sap Drawn from Earth's prolific lap. -- Bayard Taylor

Darker than darkest pansies. -- Lord Alfred Tennyson

"Pansies for ladies all-(I wish That none who wear such brooches miss A jewel in the mirror)." -- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"I pray, what flowers are these? The pansy this, O, that's for lover's thoughts." -- George Chapman

"Pansies in soft April rains Fill their stalks with honeyed sap Drawn from Earth's prolific lap." -- Bayard Taylor

Tips on Growing Pansies

• Pansies are a good choice to grow because they are relatively pest and disease free.
• Pansies are grown from seeds or get flats at your local nursery. Do not buy the plants that already have flowers on them. Select plants that are still small and do not have buds on them.
• When the temperature is above 70 deg., Pansy seed will not germinate. It prefers cool weather.
• They like full to partial sun.

• Sow seeds early in the season and cover lightly with 1/8 inches of soil and water thoroughly
• Transplant Pansy into your garden after the last frost date for your area
• Pansies have a very delicate roots. Help them get started by gently loosening the roots up before placing them in the soil. This will encourage the roots to branch out and grow into the surrounding soil.
• Pansies like slightly acid soil and a well-drained location.
• Do not bury the crown of the plant (the point where the plant emerges from the soil)
• Dig the bed about 8 to 10 inches deep and incorporate compost into the soil.. Space them 6 inch apart. Water the plants and apply a few inches of mulch.
• Pansies are cool season plants and do well in spring and then again in autumn. They keep growing until winter.

Links to Pansy Societies

• The National Viola and Pansy Society
• The American Violet Society