Perennial?

I thought Pansies were an annual plant, meaning you buy them, they look pretty for a while and then they die and the cycle begins again the next year when you buy more.

Not so.

Last year, we got some free pansies at the Vineyard Garden Center when we were buying something else. Nice, I thought, and I planted them in the front garden. Well, not enough water and too much sun spelled disaster for these sad plants. They learned the hard way about my black thumb. One hardy plant was more in the shade than the others and it lasted the whole summer.

Come winter it wilted and stayed that way as the snow came and went. Then this spring, I look down one day and see a little pansy head smiling up at me, as if to say, I'm back. And back is right. It now has over seven flowers on the one plant. It is still a lonely plant because I don't feel like killing any more flowers this year, but I commend it for it's resilience, truly. Plus, I now know that Pansies can be perennials.