Viola Voilà! Or, YOU'RE a Pansy!‏

It's funny how often the word "pansy" is misused as an insult, meaning weak, sissy, unmanly... Because, in actuality, pansies are pretty dang scrappy. While they may be petite and delicate looking, pansies pack a pretty good punch, giving containers and beds color and vitality early in the season.

They are a great spring and fall selection because of their hardiness, adaptability and tolerance to cold, especially if you live in a hardiness zone where frost (or *gasp* snow) is still prevalent in March, April and May. (Don't know your zone?) If you really want to see some determined flowers, check out these Icicle Pansies.

Pansies love full sun, but don't like the heat--go figure--and be sure to give them plenty of water. Try pairing with other spring bulbs for real impact. They are annual flowers, but some (not all) are pretty talented at reseeding themselves. Pansies are also known to be fairly disease and pest resistant, just another reason why they're tough cookies. (Speaking of cookies, did I mention that they are edible as well?)

Pansy, viola and violet tend to be used interchangeably, but pansies were actually derived from violas. (Just think of them as distant cousins.) The name pansy actually comes from the French word, pensée, meaning "thought" and because the flower resembles a pensive-looking face. Want to learn more?

Just for funsies, I came across this old citrus company crate label from: La Verne Cooperative Citrus Association. Mutual Orange Distributors. La Verne, Calif. Circa 1930s. Found on the Riverside Public Library, Citrus Label Collection.

Boots With Moxie

Anyone who really knows me, knows I love boots!

Take fall and winter right into spring with these fashionable gardening boots, perfect for the damp transition into summer.

These rubber boots, affectionately known as wellies or muckboots, are waterproof workhorses that are perfect for a rainy day or a soggy romp in the garden. Thick and sturdy, rinse these off with your garden hose and you're done.

I only have a pair of perpetually grass-stained and soiled sneakers, but see how these boots would be a good investment, as they range upwards in the $70+ range.

Now if only I had a mudroom...

far left: Toile rainboot by Tamara Henriques

middle: Hunter rainboot with Slugs bootliners found at Dirt Couture

upper right: Hunter floral boot

lower right: Tall boot from Gardener's Supply Co.

Opening Day

What? You didn’t think I was talking about baseball, did you? 

Ok, maybe a little about baseball because in Michigan, we determine spring’s arrival by the following factors: 

• Temps that finally peak above 40
• The release of Bell’s Oberon 
• When Tigers take the field at Comerica Park, marking another season of will they/won’t they baseball drama.

  
My opening day was Saturday. With latte in hand, I started off at Romence Gardens for a mid-morning class on how to grow a fabulous lawn (more on that and other Romence happenings later). Followed up by some consignment shopping and antiquing at my favorite local digs, which left me oh-so-inspired to take on the yard for the afternoon.

Extreme clean up was necessary because I neglected to do my fall prep last year. (I got married and went on a two-week Mediterranean honeymoon, followed by some excessive hours at work, which also explains my blogging hiatus.) My husband fought the good fight, by extracting some holly berry bushes that just weren’t cutting it. I give the previous owners of our house credit for putting in some landscaping, but their garden “design” left something, well everything, to be desired. I give myself credit for finally deciding to part ways with things that don’t work and allow me to have an almost-clean slate.

The latter hours of the afternoon were spent transplanting day lilies. If you remember, Don’t Ditch the Ditch Lily, my goal last fall was to move these to a hard-to-grow space in the backyard. The labor was intense. I feel like I spent hours at the gym yesterday doing nothing but squats and lunges. I know that if I keep up the good work all season long, the results will be amazing...for both my flowers AND my glutes.

P.S. How great would these look on my two front windows?
 

Garden, Gardener, Gardening

I like the word garden.

I don’t like the words “gardener” or “gardening,” as in “I’m a gardener” or “I like gardening.” It reminds of those Bree Van DeKamp, Connecticut housewife types that say they like gardening, but manage to keep their gloves pristine and fingernails in tact. They wear delicate straw hats, cutesy aprons and never seem to break a sweat. Their roses are remarkable. And, Japanese beetle, is never a word in their vocabulary.

Desperate housewife, I am not. Expert gardener, I am not, and every year, I dig back in anyway. And when I “garden,” I end up wearing dirt like it’s a second skin. I barely know how to take care of the roses I have. I still mourn the loss of perennials planted one season, never to return. I still haven’t determined if gardening is a hobby or a contact sport.

Yes, I like to garden. Love, actually. I never thought I would be the type to love gardening. It was never something I did growing up. Perhaps home ownership brought it out in me. Or, Martha Stewart. There’s just something about taking soil into your own hands (literally) to produce something of beauty. Something appreciated by friends and neighbors. I’m sure my neighbors would appreciate me a lot more if I could get certain areas of the yard under control, but I digress…

Spring is back and so am I. Making up my own rules, learning from my mistakes and creating my own expertise.