At Denver Botanic Gardens last week,late season snows left these pansies unfazed.
Pansies actually seem to appreciate the cold.
PANSIES, botanically known as Viola tricolor,derive their common name from the French word “pensees” meaning “thoughts.” I’ve long thought that pansies are some of the dearest posies. I love them!
And the blooms are associated with love. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare credited pansies with working a love charm on Titania.
But dating back even further, to the time of Hippocrates, physicians used pansies to treat heart conditions.The Victorians assigned various meanings to flowers. In Victorian flower language, pansies communicated “you’re in my thoughts.” And Victorians believed that carrying a pansy ensured the love of their sweetheart.
I've seen the edible flowers spruce up everything from wedding cakes to green salads, but I don't know about eating them. I'm happy just to look at pansies and savor thoughts about how I love them and how they do bring ease to my heart.
If you're interested in flowers' myths, meanings, and remedies,
check out this marvelous book: FLOWER POWER by Anne McIntyre.
I miss the Denver Botanic Gardens! I also terribly miss The Tattered Cover and have not been back to visit since the main store moved from Cherry Creek.
ReplyDeleteI also miss the mountains. [I don't miss the traffic . . . but since we also miss the grandkids, we risk it now and then!]
Your blog is so very interesting and I always enjoy visiting.
Hope
Seguin, Texas
Hello, Hope!
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking time to comment. I've been wondering if anybody out there is reading. As for the new Tattered Cover, for me it's not at all the same, and I rarely go, tho' I often went to Cherry Creek. LoDo store is better, in my opinion.
But Denver Botanic Gardens is growing better and better, with major renovation. I'm excited about plans for a vegetated roof, and will blog about that. Stay tuned, and again, thank you for leaving a comment and joining the conversation.