I have been in Florida for the past month, and when I got home last week the first thing
that caught my eye was the pot of ailing holiday greens outside my front door.
When I left in early February, they still looked fresh under a light dusting of snow. Now, the red winterberries are shriveled and brown, the juniper looks rusty, and the whole mess is shouting, “Please compost me!”
So, what to plant in my pot, now vacant and expectant looking? Pansies! It’s hard to believe it’s already time for pansies, but these springtime lovelies are for sale at many local garden centers.
There’s a lot to love about pansies. They have smiling faces and a lovely scent and they’re easy to grow. For impatient gardeners, they provide instant gratification.
Andrew Lawson, who helps tend the pansies at Andrew’s Greenhouse in South Amherst, says it’s not too early to plant them outside in pots or planters, or even in the ground.
They can take a frost, although if the temperature dips below 25, he suggests you cover them up or bring them inside.
To keep pansies in their prime, Lawson recommends deadheading them regularly. I like to pick them for little bouquets, and the more I pick, the more they grow. They like to be watered fairly often, but make sure not to water the leaves.
When they get leggy in early summer, you can retire them to the compost pile, or you can replant them under growing perennials, where they will be shaded from hot summer sun. In the fall, when the weather cools, they will bloom again.
The flower’s name is a fanciful derivation of the French word “pensée,” meaning thought, and it is traditionally a flower of romance. It has also been known as “Heartsease,” “Kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate,” “Love-in-idleness,” and “Three-faces-under-a-hood.”
According to the website “Flower Meaning,” in Victorian England, where outpourings of romantic feelings were frowned upon, pansies were often given to discreetly convey one’s amorous inclinations.
The flowers and leaves of pansies are entirely edible and have long been used in herbal and Chinese medicine. They are loaded with vitamins A and C. According to “Flower Meaning,” Pliny, a Roman scholar of natural history, recommended pansies to alleviate headaches and dizziness. Pansies contain salicylic acid, the same compound in aspirin.
Although pansies seem quaintly old-fashioned, there are some new types on the market, including Freefall and Wonderfall, cascading varieties that are perfect for pots and window boxes. For a different look, Frizzle-Sizzle pansies have ruffled petals.
The only difficult thing about pansies — for me anyway — is choosing which ones to buy.
A mass of a single color — butter yellow or wine red, perhaps — has an elegant simplicity.
But I’ve never been able to resist an assortment of colors. Pansies are unusual for their many shades of blue — from midnight to cobalt to periwinkle — and I always choose at least one blue variety. Some years I’m drawn to the pastel shades of apricot and lavender and pale yellow. And violas are tempting, with their abundant, smaller flowers.
I always buy more than I intended, but there’s no such thing as too many pansies. There’s always another planter to fill.
EDIBLE PERENNIAL GARDENING
There’s nothing more satisfying than eating things you grow yourself. Naturalist and landscaper John Root will give a PowerPoint presentation titled “Edible Perennial Gardening and Landscaping” March 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Granby Free Public Library, 297 East State St.
He will discuss organic techniques for the cultivation of a variety of trees, shrubs, vines, canes and herbaceous perennials for fruits, nuts and vegetables. There will also be plants for sale.
SMITH BULB SHOW SALE
There will be an after-the-show bulb sale at Smith on March 26-27. The sale will be open for Smith Botanic Garden members only on March 26 from 9 a.m. to noon. The sale will be open to the public on March 26 from noon to 3 p.m. and March 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Prices will range from $1 to $5 per pot. Bring your own trays or cardboard flats.
SUSTAINABILITY AND STONE AT TOWER HILL
Award-winning landscape designer Jan Johnsen will give two presentations at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston April 2. The first, “Spirit of Stone,” will look at creative ways to incorporate natural stone into a landscape, highlighting Japanese stone types and techniques. This will be held from 10 a.m. to noon.
In the afternoon, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Johnsen will present “Aligning with Nature: The Principles of Sustainable Garden Design.” Her PowerPoint talk will examine five design principles for creating low-impact and bio-diverse landscapes and show how you can adapt them to your home landscape. She will conclude with a discussion of native plant combinations.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from Johnsen. She has been a landscape designer for 40 years and is co-principal of Johnsen Landscapes and Pools in Mt. Kisco, New York. She studied landscape architecture and received a graduate degree in planning.
She has worked in New York, Honolulu, Japan and Washington, DC.
Her commissions range from small gardens to large landscapes and her work has been featured in many publications.
Johnsen teaches at Columbia University and is the author of Ortho’s “All About Trees” and “Heaven is a Garden — Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection.”
For more information and to register, go to Towerhillbg.org.
GARDENERS NEEDED
Have you enjoyed the Mothers’ Garden at the South Hadley Senior Center? If so, organizers need help and are urging those interested in seeing the garden continue to call the Council on Aging office at 538-5042 and leave contact information.
The gardeners usually work two hours a week but any help is welcomed.
Betty Dzwonkoski and Linda Young started the garden 15 years ago as a tribute to their mothers and it has since grown to include plants in honor of other women over the years. New plants, both perennial and annual, are always accepted.
Mickey Rathbun can be reached at foxglover8@gmail.com.