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Garden Club No better example of the word, "Irony" exists than the mocking of a weakling or softie by the categorization as "Pansy." If there is a hardier winter plant at Four Season that reliably brightens the landscape with colorful blossoms during are coldest months, we haven't found it. The common names "pansy" and "violet" are often used interchangeably. When a distinction is made, plants considered to be pansies have four petals pointing upwards, and only one pointing down. Violets have three petals pointing up and two pointing down. Modern horticulturists tend to use the term "pansy" for those multi-colored large-flowered hybrids that are grown for bedding purposes every year, while "viola" is usually reserved for smaller, more delicate annuals and perennials. Pansies grow in a wide range of colors and bi-colors including yellow, gold, orange, purple, violet, red, white, and even nearblack (very dark purple). In the United States, pansies have been colloquially referred to as "football flowers" because of the Milwaukee "Football" or soccer decorations that use white chrysanthemums and black pansies to create a soccer ball (no flower gets quite as black as a pansy). A German fable tells of how the pansy lost its perfume. Originally pansies would have been very fragrant, growing wild in fields and forests. It was said that people would trample the grass completely in eagerness to pick pansies. Unfortunately, the people's cows were starving due to the ruined fields, so the pansy prayed to give up her perfume. Her prayer was answered, and without her perfumed scent, the fields grew tall, and the cows grew fat on the fresh green grass. Plants grow well in sunny or partially sunny positions in well-draining soils. Pansies are perennial, but normally grown as biennials or annuals because of their leggy growth. The first year plant produces greenery, and bears flowers and seeds in its second year of growth. Afterwards, the plant dies like an annual. Because of selective human breeding, most garden pansies bloom the first year, some in as little as nine weeks after sowing. Pansies do have their enemies. Aphids which can spread the cucumber mosaic virus, sometimes feed on pansies. Leaf spot is a fungus. Symptoms include dark spots on leaf margins followed by a white web covering the leaves. It is associated with cool damp springs. Mildew is another fungal infection. Symptoms include violet-gray powder on fringes and underside of leaves. It is caused by stagnant air. Slugs and snails feed on the foliage. Stem rot, also known as pansy sickness, is a soilborne fungus and possible hazard with unsterilized animal manure. ~ Leonard Tavernetti HIGH QUALITY HIGH STANDARDS INTERIOR & EXTERIOR ! Four Seasons Winter Special 10% off Interior Painting Offer good with ad until March 1, 2014 3rd Generation Painter Contracting For Over 30 Years Minor Repairs: Exterior Wood & Stucco, Interior Drywall, Wood Trim Thank you in advance for the opportunity to give you Lic. #423807 a free estimate! 909-208-6142 Bonded CLUBS & GROUPS | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2014 37

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