We’re so excited to see showy annual plants back at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket. These pansies and the smaller-flowered violas were for sale by Phillip’s Farms on Saturday. I see many Brooklyn gardeners growing pansies in this early spring period and then pulling them out by May. We’ll probably put some violas in the pots on our stoop. Pansies — part of the Viola family, as are violets — thrive in cool weather and die back in the heat of the summer.
I’m not sure if we’ll go to the expense of putting short-lived annuals up on the roof. Pansy season will be over before it is consistently warm enough to spend much time on the roof. Still, we’ll probably pop a few in our roof garden since we’re too excited for spring.
I love this detail from Tulsa Gentleman: Superstitious American pioneers thought “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.
Learn more about pansies on About.com
Brooklyn Roof Garden 
Posted by Erika on March 14, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Love pansies and typically litter them all over my yard. Always plant them Mother’s Day weekend. They do great in containers…I’m aiming for more and more perennials in the flower beds and annuals in pots and window boxes.
Posted by meemsnyc on March 16, 2011 at 2:34 am
I love pansies!
Posted by A Pansy Wreath to Welcome Spring « Brooklyn Roof Garden on February 16, 2012 at 11:10 am
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