Pansies, Viola × wittrockiana: “Heart’s Ease”
Pansies have been a popular garden flower for many centuries, most notably for the Victorians who not only filled their gardens with these happy and colorful plants but also pressed them, embroidered them, and even ate them.
Photography by Mimi Giboin except where noted.
It was also the Victorians who set about breeding these easy-to-grow perennials, which are a similar shape to their near relative the viola but have bigger petals and a central eye.
These petals often have diverse markings that can include “whiskers,” so the flowers often look like cheery faces in the winter gloom; the biennial ‘Cats’ series have very defined whiskers.
“As a monograph of a botanical group, treated from the horticultural side and from a florist’s point of view, we know of none to equal Dr. Wittrock’s ‘contributions’,” noted The Horticultural Trade Journal in 1903.
Cheat Sheet
The white, yellow, and paler blue flowers are better suited to shady areas than the moody deep reds and purples.
Photograph by Erin Boyle.
For more, see DIY: Easy Sugared Violas. They can also be sugar coated as a pretty decoration for cakes.
Edible pansies pair well with our Recipe: Amaranth Banana Bread, Flowers Optional.
Keep It Alive
The delicate petals of pansies can be damaged by splashing mud. Pansies need a free-draining but moist soil and are happy in sun or partial shade but they will need water in dry spells.