Shakespeare wrote, "The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid, will make a man or woman madly dote upon the next live creature it sees."
To the Victorians, a pansy symbolized thoughts of love.
One of its common names is heartsease, named for the heart-shaped leaves that are said to cure a broken heart.
The delicate flower often has a face. It is quite durable.
The flowers are not only fragrant, but edible.
It's ancestor is the viola.
It has about 500 relatives (species).
It's name "pansy" was given it be an early gardener (likely a frenchman), who called it pensee meaning thought or remembrance.
Most gardeners buy their pansies as bedding plants at garden centres. However, for those of you who prefer to start your own seed, you have two choices:
Sow seed in a garden nursery row in late spring
to get mature plants by late summer or early fall for transplanting into
the garden to produce fall color. These plants will over winter and
bloom early next spring.
On February 4, 1985 it was further decided
that the pansy remain permanently as the emblem flower of the Society.
The complimentary box of plants for each member would henceforth be pansies.
And you wouldn't be the first one to do so. The ancients included flowers in sacred culinary practices. Pakistanians used roses, whereas the Chinese like to float chrysanthemum petals in their soup as a symbol of joy to come for many years. It has again become popular to use flowers as garnishes and flavourings.
You can choose from a vast variety; however, be sure to use only organically grown flowers. For best flavour harvest the blooms in the morning after the dew has dried. Place them with the stems intact in a container lined with a folded moist paper towel. They will stay fresh for several days.
For best results add the fragile blossoms to salads after tossing, and to soup just before serving.
The following is a partial list of edible flowers, gleaned from the August 1996 edition of the Focus: impatiens, nasturtium, snapdragon, begonia add zest to salads. Citrus flavoured borage is a tasty addition to desserts. Or how about stuffed tulip or squash blossoms. You can even add the petals to your favourite pasta recipes for a unique taste.
You can use both the flowers and leaves of beebalm, nasturtium, chives and yes -- even pansies. Scented geraniums will retain the original flavour of the leaf, while pansy stems take on a licorice taste.