Pansies

— After the hard week-long freeze and snow fall that hit Texas in February 2021, a lot of local shrubs and trees suffered devastating effects. Throughout the city, it was evident to see the damage caused. Most noticeable were palms. The city of Austin arborists estimated that as many as 90% of Austin palm trees did not survive the freeze. This was very clear when I went to Zilker Botanical Garden in early March to walk around the area. The tropical garden looked like a war zone. It was very sad. In other parts of the gardens, other plants were beginning to bloom.

Naturally, right at the entrance of Zilker, the recently planted pansies were putting on their own private show. Since they had just been watered, I was able to spend some time around the area and make a few macro shots. Here is another macro shot followed by a more general photo of the pansy flowerbed.

I searched online to find out what pansies symbolize. The beautiful mixture of purple, yellow, and white can offer quite a pleasant scene. Of course, pansies come in other colors, too. In fact, they are a hybrid plant. According to Wikipedia, pansies are “derived by hybridization from several species in the section Melanium (“the pansies”) of the genus Viola, particularly Viola tricolor, a wildflower of Europe and western Asia known as heartsease.” The particular colors I mentioned above symbolize memories, loving thoughts, and souvenirs, respectively.