Pansies bloom early despite March snow

This is what greeted me at the grocery store recently, just a few days before the latest cold spell and snowfall: big pots of pansies.

There were the traditional colors — yellow, white and deep purple. Then I saw some orange ones.

Don’t you love pansies? There’s something old-fashioned about them.

In mid-March you might expect to see daffodils, hyacinths or crocuses. Pansies are for summer months, not months with snow.

Mum often had pansies. She used to pick a couple of beautiful blossoms and put them in a tiny vase for our dining table.

Here’s a story about Mum. One day, when we were going for a ride, Daddy pulled the car off the road so we could admire a big patch of pansies. While we were looking at them, the man tending them told Mum she could choose a clump.

After surveying the many rows of flowers, she asked, “Have you got any black ones?”

Sometimes, years later, Mum would be reminded of her reply that day.