The Joy of Flowers

I get a chuckle every time I think that these tough little guys are called pansies, which generally means a coward or softy. Pansies look delicate, but they can withstand frost and cold. When I bought these, the nursery had tables and tables of pansy flats, and the greenhouse was a riot of colors. I especially like the delicate white with lavender edging.
Last weekend was perennial bed cleanup. I spent about 6 lovely (seriously!) hours grabbing big handsful of old brown leaves from between flowers, and gently teasing out the ones that had settled in at the base where all the little shoots were starting to come up. There were also dried stalks left from last summer's flowers, which I left hoping that they might provide some late season seeds or shelter for a bird or other small critter. So now the flower beds are clean, the brown earth is visible and the green sprouts are getting higher every day. Oh, did I mention it's supposed to snow this weekend?