The Garden Lady is really upset with herself. As I drive around town and see how lovely the pansies are that people had planted this fall, the Garden Lady wishes that she had planted them.
Are readers aware that pansies are lovers of cool nights and slightly warmer days? See here. In the past this had described the early spring when pansies were planted. The pansies planted in the spring would bloom their heads off
until the weather became warmer and other flowering plants bloomed. They are especially pretty in window boxes in New England where the spring weather stayed cool longer. But when the weather got hot, the pansies would die.
Then it was discovered that if people planted pansies in the fall, they would bloom twice. They would first bloom in the Fall when they were planted. They would go dormant in the winter. And then those fall planted pansies would bloom a second time in the early spring. The cool nights and those slightly warmer days were perfect for the pansies’ need. It is really heat that kills them not cold.
Well, with this warming winter trend, those people smart enough to plant the pansies in the fall are enjoying an extended bloom period of those fall planted pansies. It has been cool enough to meet the pansies need for a longer period yet not too cold nor too hot (see here). So the Garden Lady regrets that she didn’t plant pansies this fall.
