Off and on throughout the winter small flashes of color were visible through the snow in one of our flower beds. Now that most of the snow has melted in the flower bed in the rock wall, it is clear that the color came from some pansies. Bought about four years ago as “annuals”, they have happily blossomed every year since, and very early at that. Some, as these must have been, are bred to stand up to the cold, but these are incredible. A little over a week ago, our night temperature was -8°F: we have since had highs in the low 40’s and nights in the teens or lower 20’s. Today there were blossoms on about a dozen of the plants:
Montana Outdoors 
Wow those are hearty little plants to survive the last couple of weeks and still have blooms. One of nature’s beautiful little surprises.
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Comment by Anonymous — March 9, 2011 @ 6:14 am
Exactly! I have a feeling that now the country is ready to just leap into spring!
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 11:10 am
Those must be of a different kind of pansy stock than we have in the East. Must be the mountain air, eh?
Nice close up photography, Terry. I am doing an assignment on such photography this month on my blog if you or any of your readers are interested in joining in on the fun.
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Comment by Scott Thomas Photography — March 9, 2011 @ 9:59 am
I’ve read that they can be bred to tolerate cold conditions and perhaps these have done that by themselves.
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 11:12 am
Makes sense, the plants who can do bloom early probably have a big advantage over those that do not.
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Comment by Scott Thomas Photography — March 9, 2011 @ 1:27 pm
Hi Montucky, Well your story about your hardy Pansies really proved helpful to me. I just bought a flat of Pansies a week ago on sale. We had a touch of night-time freezing weather here on the Cumberland Plateau so I was worried. So far so good. Have a wonderful day today!
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — March 9, 2011 @ 11:32 am
I hope they come through OK! All of the ones we have had here have been very cold-tolerant, and they seem to just go on, year after year.
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
Ohhhh! I love pansies and I love purple! Thanks for such a nice visual treat! 🙂
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Comment by Barbara — March 9, 2011 @ 11:35 am
I think they are very pretty flowers, and have to admire their ability to handle the weather!
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 8:54 pm
I have been hearing about winter pansies the last couple of years. I guess I don’t have them. Kateri does, though.
We may have some tiny johnny jump ups under the snow. I should be able to see by next week.
I love those colors, especially that bright blue one.
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Comment by sandy — March 9, 2011 @ 3:32 pm
We have lots of johnny jump ups too, but they are not doing anything yet. The places where we have crocus are still under a foot of snow, so they will most likely be late for the party this year.
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 8:55 pm
Stunning closeups, and a verty welcome sign that Spring is lurking out there in the wild country.
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Comment by knightofswords — March 9, 2011 @ 8:53 pm
So far so good! A little rain today and the first temps in the 50’s are forecast for next week. Probably means we will have a blizzard.
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 8:57 pm
Hi Montucky, thanks for the follow. You’ve got a great eye, those photos prove it. I look forward to “keeping up” with your posts. Nice animal track photos as well. Good to see someone who looks at everything!
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Comment by pcallen — March 9, 2011 @ 9:19 pm
Thanks! There’s a lot to see in the outdoors once you become at home there. I’m looking forward to spring when I can once again get into the high country on the trails. With everything iced up, I’ve been in the doldrums lately; really ready to get back to normal1
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Comment by montucky — March 9, 2011 @ 10:35 pm
WOW! So great to see spring flowers blooming. We are definitely at least a few weeks away from any of that! Gorgeous color in these images!
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Comment by Marcie — March 10, 2011 @ 8:28 am
These seem to like winter weather! The first of our cultivated flowers (crocus) are still under a foot of snow and won;t be up for several more weeks too. Somehow these pansies have adapted to very cold weather! Makes me happy though!
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Comment by montucky — March 10, 2011 @ 11:07 pm
What beautiful cheery faces and lovely colors these pansies have. Make you want to smile. Amazing to be blooming now.
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Comment by Anna — March 10, 2011 @ 10:49 am
They are amazing. Our nights are still in the low 20’s, yet these blossoms look great the next day.
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Comment by montucky — March 10, 2011 @ 11:08 pm
pretty pretty pretty! i’m just now startin to see some jonquils blooming around here… very few tho! oh & yesterday, i saw a forsythia…
COME ON SPRING! =)
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Comment by Tricia — March 10, 2011 @ 12:14 pm
Your area is far ahead of ours then. We are still a long time away from jonquils. I look for a few more good snowfalls before then.
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Comment by montucky — March 10, 2011 @ 11:09 pm
cold weather beauties!
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Comment by silken — March 10, 2011 @ 12:24 pm
They really are. I love their blossoms anyway, and especially when it’s still winter!
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Comment by montucky — March 10, 2011 @ 11:10 pm
They are hardy and vivid, gorgeous.
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Comment by Candace — March 10, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
They sure are. As far back as I can remember, my Mother always had them around, and we have too, after we moved back here. Beautiful flowers and beautiful memories are a good combination!
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Comment by montucky — March 10, 2011 @ 11:11 pm
How beautiful collection of “winter” flowers!
Well, here it snowed last night about 6 inches. Not so much, but it was very wet and thus quite heavy to shovel it away.
Happy Friday!
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Comment by sartenada — March 11, 2011 @ 12:45 am
Snow and more snow! I will expect more here before March is completed. We also get much more during April in the higher mountains.
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Comment by montucky — March 11, 2011 @ 10:34 am
Always been a pansy fan… even had them in my bouquet for my wedding. Hardy little things that don’t let much get them down.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
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Comment by Anna — March 11, 2011 @ 7:29 am
I have been a pansy fan too and I will always have them around. They are pretty tolerant of inept gardeners!
Thank you for visiting!
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Comment by montucky — March 11, 2011 @ 9:24 pm
I do believe your hardy little plants did a better job of surviving the cold than the desert plants near Tucson. What a great display of color, so early in the season.
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Comment by Bo Mackison — March 11, 2011 @ 8:03 pm
They have had more practice. It’s amazing though what those desert plants can survive. I have seen it get bitter cold at night in the higher desert areas, but not the sub-zero cold that we have had this winter.
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Comment by montucky — March 11, 2011 @ 9:22 pm
I love the colors on all of these flowers. Those in the middle are my favorites.
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Comment by Ratty — March 11, 2011 @ 9:48 pm
I like so many of the pansy colors too. I think most of all I like their attitude!
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Comment by montucky — March 11, 2011 @ 10:34 pm
Pansies are pretty amazing, aren’t they? I LOVE the deep blue one on top.
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Comment by kateri — March 11, 2011 @ 9:56 pm
They are amazing! I could see some colored blossoms off and on all winter when the snow would melt just a bit.
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Comment by montucky — March 11, 2011 @ 10:32 pm
Such beautiful blue Pansy’s! Love those Terry!
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Comment by Stacey Dawn — March 12, 2011 @ 2:39 pm
Hi Stacey! It’s a little glimpse into spring!
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Comment by montucky — March 12, 2011 @ 8:25 pm
Wow, they’ve done well! My pansies (bought during the winter) perished.
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Comment by Val Erde — March 13, 2011 @ 8:09 am
I don’t know if these were cold-tolerant when we bought them or if they are perhaps some that have adapted that way after re-seeding themselves over the years.
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Comment by montucky — March 13, 2011 @ 8:04 pm
I planted a huge pot of the blue ones yesterday. Maybe in a few weeks they will be photograph worthy. Nice that yours showed their pretty faces when it was so cold… what a welcomed site!
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Comment by kcjewel — March 13, 2011 @ 8:32 pm
Despite these aberrations here, your area is far ahead. I’ve noticed that the local nurseries have only just begun to stir: they won’t have anything for sale for another month at least.
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Comment by montucky — March 13, 2011 @ 9:11 pm
I think mine vanished over the past season… pulled by an over zealous weeding person I hired last fall. They had appeared in clumps in spots in the yard last spring, seeds dropped by birds, no doubt. Yours are lovely… especially the top one!
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Comment by Victoria — March 15, 2011 @ 6:34 am
Maybe that’s why these are blooming now; to remind us that they must not be pulled when we clean up the flower beds for spring!
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Comment by montucky — March 15, 2011 @ 8:11 pm
You are most likely ready for some “thawing out”. Pansies are so sweet!! Very pretty!
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Comment by mitambien — March 15, 2011 @ 7:25 pm
“Thawing out” sounds good! We had two warm, clear days, now a little snow in the air again. Won’t be long now though.
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Comment by montucky — March 15, 2011 @ 8:11 pm