It wasn't until today that I took a really close look at the face of a pansy...or is it a viola? The lines, markings and symmetry are stunning. Massed together, these five-petalled unsung heroes have brightened my garden in different areas for the past three and a half months.
By checking around, I'm quite sure that what you see are violas - they are not as large as the pansy which has the large blotch in the center. I've found violas to be hardy, long-lasting - the unusual amounts of rain this spring notwithstanding - unselfish and oh so cheerful. My mother always referred to them as "Stiefmutterchen or Veilchen" - (stepmother or violet).
I have the violas in containers with mostly similar colors bunched together. They are not the fragrant variety but there are other lovely aromatic plants in the garden which I'll capture on my camera and post another time.
Summer is just a week away and so will post this little poem since it speaks about the viola. I am also waiting for my trumpet vine whose bright orange blooms appear in July - but let the concert begin:
Summer garden concert– Lois Muehl
Trumpet vine blares out
bright orange notes.
Canterbury bells
lift open throats.
Violas, dark, soft-petalled,
string along
while, high in hornbeam,
warblers trill a treble song.
3 comments:
Love those violas or pansies! In our garden we have beautiful little purple "mini" violas gracefully adorning the large rocks. This evening I had picked a few dozen and placed them in my "pansie ring" and onto our dinner table. My Nova Scotian guests called these "mini" violas, "Johnny Jump-Ups"!
And a further note: the frogs chirping at our lake are called "peepers". :)
Happy Summer!
nice work on the photo's mom. Excellent colours....
love Andrew.
Thanks so much for your kind comments Marilyn and Andrew! It's so encouraging and spurs me on to further blogging. Marilyn I'd read about the "Johnny Jump-Ups" on another blog about gardening but still wasn't too sure which ones they might be. Would love to see your sweet "pansie ring" and hear those "peepers" in symphony! We've heard fewer "peepers" around here this year and I don't have any, neither toads, in the garden. I'm not sure I'm sorry about that because they give me the jump-ups when I meet one! Poor specimen of a gardener I am.
Marilyn, also the annual Northview garden tour is happening on the 22 - any chance of you joining me again this year? I'll get the tickets!! Think how much fun that would be - tea party and all!
I'm glad you enjoyed the story of the "oldest son" on the other post. Very fun!
Great summer to you too!
Andrew - I treasure your comments about the photography. I'm delighted with the close-ups - thanks to Dana - and don't want to stop once I start taking pictures. Really enjoy your blog - terrific way to stay connected when separated by so many miles!
Thanks again, to both of you, so very much!
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