The purple one they insist on calling violet

(No one except my family is going to get the blog title, but I can't help it, it just came out). We took a trip to the greenhouse in late March when I was feeling particularly lacking in sunshine, and I bought a potted pansy. I was afraid it would get really leggy by the time we get around to planting it out, and it has, but it has also bloomed continually and brightened up many a snowy day in the past week or so. I love the startlingly deep colour. Pansies are definitely one of my favourite flowers. They're so cheery and come so early in the spring and can handle the frosty cold springs of Alberta. I remember when I worked at the greenhouse having to shovel a foot of snow off of the pansy seedlings and there they were, blooming cheerfully underneath, unperturbed by the rude awakening.