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A persistency of pansies
I am truly astonished by the hardiness of pansies. They must have been bred with anti-freeze in their roots and shoots. Their structure is anyway so puny and fleshy; easily crushed by clumsy humans. So how can they still be flowering?
The pansy in the photo is much tinier in real life, less than one inch across, and so tending more towards the wild heartsease, Viola tricolor , which grows in upland summer meadows.
Sister Jo gave me three little pots around the end of September. I planted them out in a larger pot and they have been sitting on the garden steps ever since, already into their fifth month of flowering. And not once have they failed. Not when they were buried in snow for several days. Or subjected to hard January frosts night after night. Or buffeted by gale force winds. Or beaten by downpours.
It’s true they look mangled after a frost, but as the day warms, they perk themselves up as if it had never happened. Bless their little pansy faces.
After the December snow and frost
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A hurrah of hellebores
And cheering on the pansies comes the hellebore – a Christmas Carol gift from best chum Les. Since mid December it too has flowered its socks off in a pot by the back door where we can see it. So heartening on dull winter days when it’s too icy to venture outside: there it’s been, day after day. And according to the horticultural sites on the internet, it may well carry on till spring, which at the moment it looks like doing.
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And now in the front garden, pushing up through frosty soil come miniature crocus, their stems no thicker than a darning needle. They are scattered everywhere and seem to be tiny seedlings rather than the offspring of corms; not a garden phenomenon I’d come across before we moved into The Gables. On gloomy days when they are closed up tight, you can hardly see them. But when the sun shines, the little flowers open wide. Spring is on the way, they say.
They’re nothing if not optimistic little specimens.
A cheerfulness of crocuses. Or maybe croculetti.
Your beautiful flowers are great specimens of resilience Tish!
They do brighten things up.
😍
I’ll try again! Crocus tommasinianus? Such delicate ones, I used to have some, but no more. And I can’t grow pansies either, they just shrivel and die! A shame because they are such pretty flowers and I like the colour of yours.
Shame about the pansies. Do you think it’s the sea air? Too much saltiness? I’ve looked up your crocus and mine do look like this. No corms though, only teeny bulblets.
I hadn’t considered the salty air. They do often go black.
Pansies are the BEST at just getting on with things. The hellebores are good here too. And haven’t the snowdrops been fantastic this year? Great swathes of them since early January. By the way, I’m having to comment via the Reader. You have joined the ranks of those whom WP has decided I May Not Comment On. You’re a large, if select bunch!
Oh that’s a pain re commenting, Margaret, but thanks for your persistence. And yes, snowdrop delight all over the place.
If you got the message you cannot post this comment, which I also had, I find if you go back to the post and comment again it works. I did copy it the second time, but it posted OK. This has happened a few times on several blogs. Of course I always forget to copy my comment the first time! Should really do that for every blog. JIC.
Excellent advice which is proving to work. So far. And if I remember to copy ….
Ah, yes. Always annoying when you haven’t copied it and whoosh! it vanishes.
Well done those peevish little pansies, and the hellebores look good too!
I’ll pass on the ‘well done’, Sue :):)
Teehee!
Oh yes..Spring is in the air..along with unseasonably warm temps..Must be a late storm out there somewhere.I do envey your beautiful flowers but mine will show up some day.
Ooh, you have warmth, We have bitterly cold.
I love small things and I love spring!
I’m starting to feel like Polly Parrot. If I’ve said this once…
No rhyme nor reason to it! Viola seem to be more robust here, but I love all your littles.
Cheers, Jo 🙂
How lovely, especially those persistent pansies!
The daffs, and paper whites are starting to poke up through the soil here now. No blooms yet but, it’s only a matter of time.
It’s so cheering when the daffs start to appear.
Lovely.
Thanks, Jennie.
You’re welcome, Tish.
It’s great to see some colour in this drab season. I’m hoping to go hunting some snowdrops soon!
Good luck on the snowdrop hunt! The ones around our town are full-on just now.
I apparently can add something via the reader, but not to the actual post. I have a horrible feeling they’ve been fixing things again. Oy.
And yes, I can see this!
I still can’t add a comment on the blog site, but CAN through the reader. I am SO tired of WordPress and their “updates” that always seem to make everything worse!
And I got this. Also emailed you.
Still can’t reply. So far, it’s about 60% of all my blogs to which I can’t respond. Glad I get emails!!
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*Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
This is weird. AND hugely annoying.
Beautiful – love those hellebores.
They do put on a good show, bless them.
I have been delighted to discover a crocus (yes just one) and two hellebores in my new garden, no pansies yet though!
More power to your hellebores, Becky. And one crocus is definitely better than no crocus 🙂
excellent points as always
🙂
💗💗💗
What an uplifting post! Resilient late-winter flowers always cheer me up!
Many thanks, Lindy. Winter flowers do boost the spirits, and especially ones I can see every day from my kitchen 🙂
Well, that cheered me up no end. Thank you, Tish.
That’s good to hear, Mike 🙂
One I my favorite flowers. Those faces!
Yes, those little faces 🙂