Hello.
My name is Lori.
And I have pansy envy.
I have a neighbor who just put out about 500 pansies in her front yard. And I gaze longingly at them every time we drive past. In fact, my 7 year old now says as we are approaching the pansy laden home, "Mom, just don't look."
They are absolutely beautiful. Not just the color, but the sheer quantity.
But I've decided that I must move on with my life and just be thankful for the pansies I have. Which are beautiful pansies. Just not so many of them.
These are the pansies I went with this year. There are some yellows, Burgundies and some mixes. I fell in love when I laid my eyes on this particular one and I picked the rest of the colors to coordinate with it.
Every fall I buy pansies for my front flower borders and coordinating chrysanthemums for the 2 urns on my front porch.
In the Southern states, pansies are usually considered to be annuals because they are not very heat tolerant. I usually pull mine out in the late spring/early summer when they get leggy and then replace them with my summer annuals.
Which is why I don't have 500. Because my proposed garden budget has yet to be approved.
Now, if you plant the chrysanthemums in the ground, they are usually perennial, which means they come back every year. I plant last year's mums in the backyard flower borders.
But the pansies are just so pretty that I find myself justifying buying them because they are pretty and they do last until next summers annuals go in and they are pretty much the only flowers that last through winter. My husband thinks I should try to grow several hundred from seed next year so we won't have to spend very much and I can have as many as I want.
I'll let ya know how that one works out for me.
I think you should go with your husbands idea. I have never heard of anyone growing pansies from seed to save money, but now that I think about it, it really borders on genius. Ask your husband if he has any other ideas for improving, life, relationships, and good will toward men and post those as regularly as you can.
ReplyDeletethanks.
a devoted reader
Well at least you aren't in denial. Your pansies are GORGEOUS!!! Even if you don't have 500 ;) You know they sell orange and black ones here at OSU every year as a fundraiser. If you are ever interested in some let me know :)
ReplyDeletei love pansies, too. love, love them. My grandmother used to buy flats and flats after them, long after she could physically plant them, and just enjoy looking at them on her patio. :) let me know how the seed growing goes...
ReplyDeletejenny f.
I love them so much!!! Hubs and I planted pansies in our very first house together. The weather was so mild in the UP that you could grow pansies all summer. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you love my pansies. Oh wait... I'm not your neighbor anymore and I don't have one pansy in my yard. Oh, well... at least now you neighbor with a green thumb, instead of your old neighbor that had a black thumb :o)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures! I have never done the pansie thing but want to! Maybe next year when we don't have so many projects going on.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful! Talk about pansy envy - I don't have ANY! Not ONE! So enjoy - and I'll drool over yours. :-)
ReplyDeletewow! okay what kind of camera do you have? recommend... Forrest is wanting to surprise me with one for Christmas. What should I specify. I know yours is rather expensive but I want a really good one this time. Last time we spent $500 and only used it for 3 years and I really wished I would have held out for an SLR 35mm digital. But if you have any other suggestions, I'm listening!
ReplyDelete