What’s in a pansy
Posted by Sarah on March 31st 2010 in blog
Photo courtesy: West County Glove
For Minnesota gardeners a pansy is a welcome and exciting sign of spring. The staff here at Sunnyside has even dubbed a term for the joy that the pansy and the coming spring it signifies: Pansymonium! In a stark and colorful explosion the first pansies obliterate the white doldrums of the winter and kick our spring here off in an excellent way.
From the Greek word ‘pansee,’ to think, the pansy has been around nearly forever. First utilized in gardens dating back to the 4th Century B.C., the pansy, along with its sister plant, the viola have been bringing bodacious color to gardens around the world. There are some 500 different species of pansy, with differences so minute that only a botanist would care to tell them apart, but the diversity of the pansy offers the gardener a plethora of color – from orange to violet, sky-blue to electric tri-color.
The pansy has made its mark all over history. Shakespeare used the symbol of the pansy in Hamlet (“And there is pansies, and that is for thought”) illustrating Ophelia’s character and referring to the pansy’s reputation to cure romantic problems. The religious and non-believes both use the pansy – in Christianity due to the pansy’s tricolor variety it is often used to symbolize the trinity, remembrance and meditation; while the pansy’s invocation of free thought was used as image for the American Secular Union formed in the late 1800’s.
The pansy is a cool loving plant – the first to show its flowers in the spring and also blooming in the cool months of the fall. The pansy tends to hibernate in the hot months of mid-summer, so getting the most bang from the pansy involves planting them early, right after the threat of a hard frost has passed.
It’s a good idea to plant pansies with plenty of compost for nutrients and to regularly fertilize, either with a slow-release granular or a liquid shot once a month. Stem rot and leaf rot, the most common problems associated with the pansy are best dealt with by prevention involving careful watering. Water when dry, but don’t allow to soil to stay wet, as this leads to rot. Once pansies bloom it is a good idea to deadhead them to prevent seeding and to encourage blooms.
