Pansy
Encyclopedia
The Pansy is a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flower
s. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis. The name "pansy" also appears as part of the common name for other Viola species that are wildflower
s in Europe. Some unrelated species, such as the Pansy Monkeyflower
, also have "pansy" in their name.
The pansy flower is two to three inches in diameter and has two slightly overlapping upper petals, two side petals, and a single bottom petal with a slight beard emanating from the flower's center. The flower has been produced in a wide range of colors and bicolors. The plant may grow to nine inches in height, and prefers sun to varying degrees and well-draining soils. Pansies are biennials
, but are purchased at garden centers in their second year of growth and treated as annuals
by the home gardener. They are subjected to devastation by aphid
s, snail
s, and slug
s, and several diseases, mostly fungal. They do not perform well in hot, muggy weather or climes.
Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennett brought the pansy to the attention of gardeners in the early years of the 19th century after cultivating every sort of V. tricolor she could procure in her father's garden at Walton-upon-Thames. V. tricolor has known many names in the English-speaking world including heartsease, love in idleness, and flower of Jove, but the name pansy is derived from the French, pensée (thought), and was bestowed upon the plant for its resemblance to a pensive human face. The pansy has attracted the attention of poets and artists including William Shakespeare
, William Wordsworth
, Pierre-Joseph Redouté
, and Georgia O'Keeffe
. The flower is a recurring motif in cultural artifacts such as embroidery designs and greeting cards.
About the same time that Lady Bennett was busy cultivating heartsease, James, Lord Gambier was doing the same in his garden at Iver under the advice and guidance of his gardener Thomson. A yellow viola, Viola lutea, and a wide-petalled pale yellow species of Russian origin, Viola altaica were among the crosses that laid the foundation for the new hybrids classed as Viola x Wittrockiana. A round flower of overlapping petals was the aim of early trials; in the late 1830s a chance sport that no longer had narrow nectar guides of dark color on the petals but a broad dark blotch on the petals (which came to be called the "face"), was found. It was developed in Gambier's garden and released to the public in 1839 with the name "Medora".
By 1833, there were 400 named pansies available to gardeners who once considered its progenitor, heartsease, a weed. Specific guidelines were formulated for Show Pansies but amateur gardeners preferred the less demanding Fancy Pansies. About this time, James Grieve developed the viola and Dr. Charles Stuart developed the violetta, both smaller, more compact plants than the pansy.
s going over each other slightly, two side petals, connectors where the three lower petals join the center of the flower, and a single bottom petal with a slight beard.
(Viola tricolor), a small European wildflower called Johnny Jump Up in North America. Modern horticulturists have developed a wide range of Pansy flower colors and bicolors including yellow, gold, orange, purple, violet, red, white, and even black (very dark purple). Pansies typically display large showy face markings.
Pansies are generally hardy plants
and will survive freezing temperatures even during their blooming season. Plants grow well in sunny or partially sunny positions in well-draining soils. Pansies are normally biennials
. The first year plant produces greenery
, and bears flower
s and seed
s in its second year of growth. Afterwards, the plant dies like an annual
. Because of selective human breeding, most garden Pansies bloom the first year, some in as little as nine weeks after sowing.
Pansies are purchased as six-packs or flats of young plants from garden centers and planted directly into the garden soil. They can be grown as short-lived perennials but are usually treated as biennials or annuals because they become leggy as they age. Plants will grow up to nine inches (23 cm) in height with flowers measuring two to three inches (about 6 cm) in diameter, though smaller and larger flowering cultivar
s are available.
Pansies are winter hardy in zones 4-8. They can survive light freezes and short periods of snow cover, but, in areas with prolonged snow cover, a covering of a dry winter mulch is recommended. In warmer climates, zones 9-11, Pansies can bloom over the winter, and are often planted in the fall. In warmer zones, Pansies may re-seed themselves and return the next year. Pansies are not very heat-tolerant; warm temperatures inhibit blooming and hot muggy air causes rot and death. In colder zones, Pansies may not survive without snow cover or protection (mulch) from extreme cold or periods of freezing and thawing. Pansies perform best in zones with moderate temperatures, and equal amounts of mild rainfall and sunshine.
Pansies, for best growth, are watered thoroughly about once a week, depending on climate and rainfall. The plant should never be overwatered. To maximize blooming, plant foods are used about every other week, depending on the type of food used. Regular deadheading can extend the blooming period.
s, which can spread the cucumber mosaic virus, sometimes feed on pansies. Infestations are treated with a spray of diluted soft soap (2 ounces per gallon) or insecticide
s.
. Symptoms include dark spots on leaf margins followed by a white web covering the leaves. It is associated with cool damp springs.
(Oidium) is a fungal infection. Symptoms include violet-gray powder on fringes and underside of leaves. It is caused by stagnant air and can be limited but not necessarily eliminated by spraying (especially leaf undersides).
s and snail
s feed on the foliage. Sometimes sharp, gritty sand or a top-dressing of chipped bark is used by gardeners to limit damage.
and a possible hazard with unsterilized animal manure
. The plant may collapse without warning in the middle of the season. The foliage will flag and lose color. Flowers will fade and shrivel prematurely. Stem will snap at the soil line if tugged slightly. The plant is probably a total loss unless tufted. The treatment of stem rot includes the use of fungicide
s such as Cheshunt
or Benomyl
, which are used prior to planting. Infected plants are destroyed (burned) to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other plants.
Cucumber mosaic virus
The cucumber mosaic virus is transmitted by aphid
s. Pansies with the virus have fine yellow veining on young leaves, stunted growth and anomalous flowers. The virus can lay dormant, affect the entire plant and be passed to next generations and to other species. Prevention is key: purchases should consist entirely of healthy plants, and pH
-balanced soil should be used which is neither too damp nor too dry. The soil should have balanced amounts of nitrogen
, phosphate
and potash
. Other diseases which may weaken the plant should be eliminated.
On account of its popularity in both society and its recurring appearances in Romantic poetry, a variety of new nicknames for the flower began to circulate. Dorothea Lynde Dix proclaims that “Perhaps no flower (not excepting even the queenly rose) claims to be so universal a favorite, as the viola tricolor; none currently has been honored with so rich a variety of names, at once expressive of grace, delicacy and tenderness.” Many of these names play on the whimsical nature of love, including “Three Faces under a Hood,” “Flame Flower,” “Jump Up and Kiss Me,” “Flower of Jove,” and “Pink of my John.”
In Scandinavia, Scotland, and German-speaking countries, the pansy (or its wild parent Viola tricolor) is or was known as the Stepmother (Flower). This name rose out of stories about a selfish stepmother; the tale was told to children in various versions while the teller plucked off corresponding parts of the blossom to fit the plot.
In Italy
, the pansy is known as flammola (little flame), and in Hungary it is known as árvácska (small orphan). In Israel, the pansy is known as the "Amnon v'Tamar", or Amnon and Tamar, after the biblical characters (II Samuel 13). In New York, pansies have been colloquially referred to as "football flowers" for reasons unknown. In some countries of Spanish language, the pansy is known as "Pensamiento" or "Trinitaria".
The name “Heart’s-ease” came from the woman St. Euphrasia, whose name in Greek signifies cheerfulness of mind. The woman, who refused marriage and took the veil, was considered a pattern of humility, hence the name “humble violet”. The specific colors of the flower – purple, yellow, and white – are meant to symbolize memories, loving thoughts and souvenirs, respectively.
Another name for the pansy is that of “Herb Trinity,” with its three colorful petals acting as symbols for the Holy Trinity. The pansy’s connection to religion is also mentioned by Harte, who writes: “From brute beasts humility I learned;/And in the pansy’s life God’s providence discerned”. Gifford evokes both Christian and classical undertones, writing how “Pansies – still,/More blest than me, thus shall ye live/Your little day, - and when ye die,/Sweet flowers! The grateful muse/Shall give a verse”. Smart proposes “Were it not for thee, oh sun,/Those pansies, that reclining from the bank/View through the immaculate, pellucid stream,/Their portraiture in the inverted Heaven,/Might as well change their triple boast, the white,/The purple, and the gold”.
The name “Love in Idleness” was meant to imply the image of a lover who has little or no other employment than to think of his beloved one.
The name 'pansy' is derived from the French
word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought. Because of this the pansy has long been a symbol of Freethought
and has been used in the literature of the American Secular Union
. Humanists
use it too, as the pansy's current appearance was developed from the Heartsease
by two centuries of intentional crossbreed
ing of wild plant hybrids.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation
(FFRF) uses the pansy symbol extensively in its lapel pins and literature. The flower has long been associated with human manner, as one man cleverly stated: “Nature sports as much with the colours of this little flower as she does with the features of the human countenance.” The pansy’s particular connection to human thought and emotion is mirrored in one Dr. Evan’s poems, where he captures the whimsical, yet deep emotional roots of the pansy’s symbolism: “Pied Pansy, - once a vestal fair/In Cerestrain, - now droops - /Stained by the bolt of love her purple breast,/And ‘freaked with jet’ her party-colored vest”. The shape of the petals, in particular its resemblance to the human face, it is not surprising that the pansy would come to be associated with deep contemplation. One man wrote in The Argosy: “With its own symbolic meaning of thought, the pansy is also somewhat endued with a soft shadow, not necessarily of grief, but solemn and quiet, indeed grave, as thought should be.”
The Pansy has figured in literature and the visual arts. In William Shakespeare
's A Midsummer Night's Dream
, the juice of the heartsease is a love potion and "on sleeping eyelids laid, will make a man or woman madly dote upon the next live creature that it sees." (II.1). In Hamlet
, Ophelia distributes flowers with the remark, "There's pansies, that's for thoughts" (IV.5). Other poets referencing the pansy include Ben Jonson
, Bernard Barton
, Michael Drayton
, Edmund Spenser
, William Wakefield
, and William Wordsworth
.
Elsewhere in literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne
published his last literary effort, an unfinished piece, entitled Pansie, a Fragment, sometimes called Little Pansie, a fragment in 1864. D. H. Lawrence
's Pansies: Poems by D. H. Lawrence was published in 1929, and Margaret Mitchell
originally chose Pansy as the name of her Gone with the Wind
heroine, but settled on Scarlett just before the book went into print. In the Harry Potter
series, a character named Pansy Parkinson is a bully, and just one of the characters in the novels who has a flower related name, including Lavender Brown and Lily Potter.
In the visual arts, Pierre-Joseph Redouté
painted Bouquet of Pansies in 1827, and, in 1874, Henri Fantin-Latour
painted Still Life with Pansies. In 1887, van Gogh painted Mand met viooltjes, and, in 1926, Georgia O'Keeffe
created a painting of a black pansy called simply, Pansy and followed it with White Pansy in 1927. J. J. Grandville created a fantasy flower called Pensée in his Fleurs Animées, and the 1953 Disney animated film Alice in Wonderland featured a chorus of singing pansies in the Garden of Live Flowers scene.
The Pansy is a symbol of the Kappa Alpha Theta
sorority and also a symbol of the Delta Delta Delta
sorority. The Pansy is the flower of Osaka
, Japan
, and was the name of the Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Custom guitar with an Alpine White finish played by guitarist Frank Iero
(whose nickname, coincidentally, is also Pansy) of the band My Chemical Romance
. Pansy was broken during a show.
The language of flowers
is traditional rather than scientific. A honeyflower and a pansy left by a lover for his beloved means "I am thinking of our forbidden love". In 1858, the writer James Shirley Hibberd wrote that the French custom of giving a bride a bouquet of pansies (thoughts) and marigolds (cares) symbolized the woes of domestic life rather than marital bliss.
A German fable tells of how the pansy lost its perfume. Originally pansies would have been very fragrant, growing wild in fields and forests. It was said that people would trample the grass completely in eagerness to pick pansies. Unfortunately, the people’s cows were starving due to the ruined fields, so the pansy prayed to give up her perfume. Her prayer was answered, and without her perfumed scent, the fields grew tall, and the cows grew fat on the fresh green grass.
American pioneers thought that “a handful of violets taken into the farmhouse in the spring ensured prosperity, and to neglect this ceremony brought harm to baby chicks and ducklings.” On account of its place in American hearts, a game called “Violet War” also arose. In this game, two players would intertwine the hooks where the pansy blossoms meet the stems, then attempt to pull the two flowers apart like wishbones. Whoever pulled off the most of their opponent’s violet heads was proclaimed the winner. Young American settlers also made pansy dolls by lining up the pansy flower “faces”, pasting on leaf skirts and twig arms to complete the figures.
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis. The name "pansy" also appears as part of the common name for other Viola species that are wildflower
Wildflower
A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...
s in Europe. Some unrelated species, such as the Pansy Monkeyflower
Mimulus
Mimulus is a diverse plant genus, the monkey-flowers and musk-flowers. The about 150 species are currently placed in the family Phrymaceae. The genus has traditionally been placed in Scrophulariaceae. The removal of Mimulus from that family has been supported by studies of chloroplast DNA first...
, also have "pansy" in their name.
The pansy flower is two to three inches in diameter and has two slightly overlapping upper petals, two side petals, and a single bottom petal with a slight beard emanating from the flower's center. The flower has been produced in a wide range of colors and bicolors. The plant may grow to nine inches in height, and prefers sun to varying degrees and well-draining soils. Pansies are biennials
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
, but are purchased at garden centers in their second year of growth and treated as annuals
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
by the home gardener. They are subjected to devastation by aphid
Aphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, and slug
Slug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
s, and several diseases, mostly fungal. They do not perform well in hot, muggy weather or climes.
Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennett brought the pansy to the attention of gardeners in the early years of the 19th century after cultivating every sort of V. tricolor she could procure in her father's garden at Walton-upon-Thames. V. tricolor has known many names in the English-speaking world including heartsease, love in idleness, and flower of Jove, but the name pansy is derived from the French, pensée (thought), and was bestowed upon the plant for its resemblance to a pensive human face. The pansy has attracted the attention of poets and artists including William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Pierre-Joseph Redouté , was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers"....
, and Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
. The flower is a recurring motif in cultural artifacts such as embroidery designs and greeting cards.
Historical background
In the early years of the 19th century, Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet (1785–1861), daughter of the Lord of Tankerville, collected and cultivated every sort of Viola tricolor (commonly, heartsease) she could procure in her father's garden at Walton-upon-Thames, Surrey. Under the supervision of her gardener, William Richardson, a large variety of plants was produced via cross-breeding. In 1812, she introduced her pansies to the horticultural world, and, in 1813, Mr. Lee, a well-known florist and nurseryman, further cultivated the flower. Other nurserymen followed Lee's example, and the pansy became a favorite among the public.About the same time that Lady Bennett was busy cultivating heartsease, James, Lord Gambier was doing the same in his garden at Iver under the advice and guidance of his gardener Thomson. A yellow viola, Viola lutea, and a wide-petalled pale yellow species of Russian origin, Viola altaica were among the crosses that laid the foundation for the new hybrids classed as Viola x Wittrockiana. A round flower of overlapping petals was the aim of early trials; in the late 1830s a chance sport that no longer had narrow nectar guides of dark color on the petals but a broad dark blotch on the petals (which came to be called the "face"), was found. It was developed in Gambier's garden and released to the public in 1839 with the name "Medora".
By 1833, there were 400 named pansies available to gardeners who once considered its progenitor, heartsease, a weed. Specific guidelines were formulated for Show Pansies but amateur gardeners preferred the less demanding Fancy Pansies. About this time, James Grieve developed the viola and Dr. Charles Stuart developed the violetta, both smaller, more compact plants than the pansy.
Morphology
The pansy flower has two top petalPetal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s going over each other slightly, two side petals, connectors where the three lower petals join the center of the flower, and a single bottom petal with a slight beard.
Cultivation and life cycle
Modern Pansies are cultivated from HeartseaseHeartsease
Viola tricolor, known as Heartsease, is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. It has been introduced into North America, where it has spread widely, and is known as the Johnny Jump Up...
(Viola tricolor), a small European wildflower called Johnny Jump Up in North America. Modern horticulturists have developed a wide range of Pansy flower colors and bicolors including yellow, gold, orange, purple, violet, red, white, and even black (very dark purple). Pansies typically display large showy face markings.
Hardiness (plants)
Hardiness of plants describe their ability to survive adverse growing conditions. It is usually limited to discussions of climatic adversity. Thus a plant's ability to tolerate cold, heat, drought, flooding, or wind are typically considered measurements of hardiness. Hardiness of plants is defined...
and will survive freezing temperatures even during their blooming season. Plants grow well in sunny or partially sunny positions in well-draining soils. Pansies are normally biennials
Biennial plant
A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months. Usually the stem remains very short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming...
. The first year plant produces greenery
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
, and bears flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s and seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s in its second year of growth. Afterwards, the plant dies like an annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
. Because of selective human breeding, most garden Pansies bloom the first year, some in as little as nine weeks after sowing.
Pansies are purchased as six-packs or flats of young plants from garden centers and planted directly into the garden soil. They can be grown as short-lived perennials but are usually treated as biennials or annuals because they become leggy as they age. Plants will grow up to nine inches (23 cm) in height with flowers measuring two to three inches (about 6 cm) in diameter, though smaller and larger flowering cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s are available.
Pansies are winter hardy in zones 4-8. They can survive light freezes and short periods of snow cover, but, in areas with prolonged snow cover, a covering of a dry winter mulch is recommended. In warmer climates, zones 9-11, Pansies can bloom over the winter, and are often planted in the fall. In warmer zones, Pansies may re-seed themselves and return the next year. Pansies are not very heat-tolerant; warm temperatures inhibit blooming and hot muggy air causes rot and death. In colder zones, Pansies may not survive without snow cover or protection (mulch) from extreme cold or periods of freezing and thawing. Pansies perform best in zones with moderate temperatures, and equal amounts of mild rainfall and sunshine.
Pansies, for best growth, are watered thoroughly about once a week, depending on climate and rainfall. The plant should never be overwatered. To maximize blooming, plant foods are used about every other week, depending on the type of food used. Regular deadheading can extend the blooming period.
Aphids
AphidAphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s, which can spread the cucumber mosaic virus, sometimes feed on pansies. Infestations are treated with a spray of diluted soft soap (2 ounces per gallon) or insecticide
Insecticide
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...
s.
Leaf spot
Leaf spot (Ramularia deflectens) is a fungal infectionFungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
. Symptoms include dark spots on leaf margins followed by a white web covering the leaves. It is associated with cool damp springs.
Mildew
MildewMildew
Mildew refers to certain kinds of molds or fungi.In Old English, it meant honeydew , and later came to mean mildew in the modern sense of mold or fungus....
(Oidium) is a fungal infection. Symptoms include violet-gray powder on fringes and underside of leaves. It is caused by stagnant air and can be limited but not necessarily eliminated by spraying (especially leaf undersides).
Slugs and snails
SlugSlug
Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...
s and snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s feed on the foliage. Sometimes sharp, gritty sand or a top-dressing of chipped bark is used by gardeners to limit damage.
Stem rot
Stem rot, also known as pansy sickness, is a soil-borne fungusFungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
and a possible hazard with unsterilized animal manure
Manure
Manure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...
. The plant may collapse without warning in the middle of the season. The foliage will flag and lose color. Flowers will fade and shrivel prematurely. Stem will snap at the soil line if tugged slightly. The plant is probably a total loss unless tufted. The treatment of stem rot includes the use of fungicide
Fungicide
Fungicides are chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality and profit. Fungicides are used both in agriculture and to fight fungal infections in animals...
s such as Cheshunt
Cheshunt
Cheshunt is a town in Hertfordshire, England with a population of around 52,000 according to the United Kingdom's 2001 Census. It is a dormitory town and part of the Greater London Urban Area and London commuter belt served by Cheshunt railway station...
or Benomyl
Benomyl
Benomyl is a fungicide which was introduced in 1968 by DuPont. It is a systemic benzimidazole fungicide that is selectively toxic to microorganisms and to invertebrates, especially earthworms. Benomyl binds to microtubules, interfering with cell functions such as meiosis and intracellular...
, which are used prior to planting. Infected plants are destroyed (burned) to prevent the spread of the pathogen to other plants.
Cucumber mosaic virusCucumber mosaic virusCucumber mosaic virus is a plant pathogenic virus in the family Bromoviridae.It is the type member of the plant virus genus, Cucumovirus. This virus has a worldwide distribution and a very wide host range. In fact it has the reputation of having the widest host range of any known plant virus...
The cucumber mosaic virus is transmitted by aphidAphid
Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...
s. Pansies with the virus have fine yellow veining on young leaves, stunted growth and anomalous flowers. The virus can lay dormant, affect the entire plant and be passed to next generations and to other species. Prevention is key: purchases should consist entirely of healthy plants, and pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
-balanced soil should be used which is neither too damp nor too dry. The soil should have balanced amounts of nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
, phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
and potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
. Other diseases which may weaken the plant should be eliminated.
Cultivars
The Universal Plus series of 21 cultivars covers all the common pansy colors except orange and black.Name origin
In Scandinavia, Scotland, and German-speaking countries, the pansy (or its wild parent Viola tricolor) is or was known as the Stepmother (Flower). This name rose out of stories about a selfish stepmother; the tale was told to children in various versions while the teller plucked off corresponding parts of the blossom to fit the plot.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the pansy is known as flammola (little flame), and in Hungary it is known as árvácska (small orphan). In Israel, the pansy is known as the "Amnon v'Tamar", or Amnon and Tamar, after the biblical characters (II Samuel 13). In New York, pansies have been colloquially referred to as "football flowers" for reasons unknown. In some countries of Spanish language, the pansy is known as "Pensamiento" or "Trinitaria".
The name “Heart’s-ease” came from the woman St. Euphrasia, whose name in Greek signifies cheerfulness of mind. The woman, who refused marriage and took the veil, was considered a pattern of humility, hence the name “humble violet”. The specific colors of the flower – purple, yellow, and white – are meant to symbolize memories, loving thoughts and souvenirs, respectively.
Another name for the pansy is that of “Herb Trinity,” with its three colorful petals acting as symbols for the Holy Trinity. The pansy’s connection to religion is also mentioned by Harte, who writes: “From brute beasts humility I learned;/And in the pansy’s life God’s providence discerned”. Gifford evokes both Christian and classical undertones, writing how “Pansies – still,/More blest than me, thus shall ye live/Your little day, - and when ye die,/Sweet flowers! The grateful muse/Shall give a verse”. Smart proposes “Were it not for thee, oh sun,/Those pansies, that reclining from the bank/View through the immaculate, pellucid stream,/Their portraiture in the inverted Heaven,/Might as well change their triple boast, the white,/The purple, and the gold”.
The name “Love in Idleness” was meant to imply the image of a lover who has little or no other employment than to think of his beloved one.
The name 'pansy' is derived from the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought. Because of this the pansy has long been a symbol of Freethought
Freethought
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
and has been used in the literature of the American Secular Union
American Secular Union
The American Secular Union was a social movement from the 19th century in the United States.After the implosion of the National Liberal League, the Liberals reorganized as a nonpolitical American Secular Union...
. Humanists
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
use it too, as the pansy's current appearance was developed from the Heartsease
Heartsease
Viola tricolor, known as Heartsease, is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. It has been introduced into North America, where it has spread widely, and is known as the Johnny Jump Up...
by two centuries of intentional crossbreed
Crossbreed
A crossbreed or crossbred usually refers to an animal with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. Crossbreeding refers to the process of breeding such an animal, often with the intention to create offspring that share the traits of both parent lineages, or producing...
ing of wild plant hybrids.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an American freethought organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the separation of church and state and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism and nontheism. The FFRF publishes...
(FFRF) uses the pansy symbol extensively in its lapel pins and literature. The flower has long been associated with human manner, as one man cleverly stated: “Nature sports as much with the colours of this little flower as she does with the features of the human countenance.” The pansy’s particular connection to human thought and emotion is mirrored in one Dr. Evan’s poems, where he captures the whimsical, yet deep emotional roots of the pansy’s symbolism: “Pied Pansy, - once a vestal fair/In Cerestrain, - now droops - /Stained by the bolt of love her purple breast,/And ‘freaked with jet’ her party-colored vest”. The shape of the petals, in particular its resemblance to the human face, it is not surprising that the pansy would come to be associated with deep contemplation. One man wrote in The Argosy: “With its own symbolic meaning of thought, the pansy is also somewhat endued with a soft shadow, not necessarily of grief, but solemn and quiet, indeed grave, as thought should be.”
Pansies in the arts and culture
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, the juice of the heartsease is a love potion and "on sleeping eyelids laid, will make a man or woman madly dote upon the next live creature that it sees." (II.1). In Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, Ophelia distributes flowers with the remark, "There's pansies, that's for thoughts" (IV.5). Other poets referencing the pansy include Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
, Bernard Barton
Bernard Barton
-External links:* at Find-A-Grave...
, Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton
Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
, Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...
, William Wakefield
William Wakefield
William Hayward Wakefield was an English colonel, the leader of the first colonizing expedition to New Zealand and one of the founders of Wellington. In 1826, he married Emily Sidney, a daughter of Sir John Sidney.-Early life:...
, and William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
.
Elsewhere in literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
published his last literary effort, an unfinished piece, entitled Pansie, a Fragment, sometimes called Little Pansie, a fragment in 1864. D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
's Pansies: Poems by D. H. Lawrence was published in 1929, and Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
originally chose Pansy as the name of her Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
heroine, but settled on Scarlett just before the book went into print. In the Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
series, a character named Pansy Parkinson is a bully, and just one of the characters in the novels who has a flower related name, including Lavender Brown and Lily Potter.
In the visual arts, Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Pierre-Joseph Redouté
Pierre-Joseph Redouté , was a Belgian painter and botanist, known for his watercolours of roses, lilies and other flowers at Malmaison. He was nicknamed "The Raphael of flowers"....
painted Bouquet of Pansies in 1827, and, in 1874, Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour
Henri Fantin-Latour was a French painter and lithographer best known for his flower paintings and group portraits of Parisian artists and writers.-Biography:...
painted Still Life with Pansies. In 1887, van Gogh painted Mand met viooltjes, and, in 1926, Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades before women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists...
created a painting of a black pansy called simply, Pansy and followed it with White Pansy in 1927. J. J. Grandville created a fantasy flower called Pensée in his Fleurs Animées, and the 1953 Disney animated film Alice in Wonderland featured a chorus of singing pansies in the Garden of Live Flowers scene.
The Pansy is a symbol of the Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta , also known as Theta, is an international fraternity for women founded on January 27, 1870 at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury...
sorority and also a symbol of the Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international sorority founded on November 27, 1888, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. With over 200,000 initiates, Tri Delta is one of the world's largest NPC sororities.-History:...
sorority. The Pansy is the flower of Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and was the name of the Epiphone Elitist Les Paul Custom guitar with an Alpine White finish played by guitarist Frank Iero
Frank Iero
Frank Anthony Iero Jr is the rhythm guitarist, co-lead guitarist and backup vocalist of the alternative rock band My Chemical Romance as well as the vocalist of the post-hardcore band Leathermouth.-Early life:...
(whose nickname, coincidentally, is also Pansy) of the band My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
. Pansy was broken during a show.
Traditions and superstitions
Language of flowers
The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, was a Victorian-era means of communication in which various flowers and floral arrangements were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken...
is traditional rather than scientific. A honeyflower and a pansy left by a lover for his beloved means "I am thinking of our forbidden love". In 1858, the writer James Shirley Hibberd wrote that the French custom of giving a bride a bouquet of pansies (thoughts) and marigolds (cares) symbolized the woes of domestic life rather than marital bliss.
A German fable tells of how the pansy lost its perfume. Originally pansies would have been very fragrant, growing wild in fields and forests. It was said that people would trample the grass completely in eagerness to pick pansies. Unfortunately, the people’s cows were starving due to the ruined fields, so the pansy prayed to give up her perfume. Her prayer was answered, and without her perfumed scent, the fields grew tall, and the cows grew fat on the fresh green grass.
American pioneers thought that “a handful of violets taken into the farmhouse in the spring ensured prosperity, and to neglect this ceremony brought harm to baby chicks and ducklings.” On account of its place in American hearts, a game called “Violet War” also arose. In this game, two players would intertwine the hooks where the pansy blossoms meet the stems, then attempt to pull the two flowers apart like wishbones. Whoever pulled off the most of their opponent’s violet heads was proclaimed the winner. Young American settlers also made pansy dolls by lining up the pansy flower “faces”, pasting on leaf skirts and twig arms to complete the figures.
External links
- PansyFlowers.com information about pansies