Monkey Faces

As this past summer drew to a close, I was so eager to fill our front flowerbed with fall pansies -- or monkey faces, as my maternal grandmother used to call them. However, as the time came when they were available at local greenhouses, I found myself seriously lacking in time, energy, ability (bending over to plant stuff doesn't exactly sound like fun now), and initiative. Fortunately, my dear mother bought some for her home and my dad's office, and she got some for me at the same time...which is a good thing, because if not for that, the flowerbed would still be completely bare. My dream of having it filled with these pansies went up in smoke when I realized how much that would cost...so now as I drive around town, I appreciate other's full beds of pansies. Incidentally, purple and gold are the school colors of our local university, and they have gorgeous plantings of these flowers. I wonder how much they spend per year on landscaping???

~ it does add a bit of cheer to see these small but extremely hardy flowers marching up the hill to our front door
~ such cheerful little faces!