Winter pansies

Over the past week with the warmer temperatures and lots of sun, the snow is receding and glimpses of my garden have reappeared! I am lucky because most of my main garden faces south, so on these warm late winter days, the snow really melts quickly when compared with snow in north facing locations. With the garden peeking out from the edge of the snow pack, I am anxiously awaiting to see if my Winter Pansies overwintered. If you aren't familiar with Winter Pansies, they are annuals that you buy and plant in the fall and by some miracle, survive the winter to bloom and look lovely in your spring garden. I got very lucky last fall because I walked into a Lowes for something and on the rack outside of the door were 4 packs for Winter Pansies for 25 cents each! Usually they are on the expensive side, but because they were so cheap, I bought 8 - 4 packs and planted them in a few locations where I thought they would look good in the spring. They look just like pansies you find in garden centers starting in April, but you really get 2 seasons (fall and spring) out of the plants. Once the true heat of summer arrives, the plants wither away. As soon as the plants emerge from the snow, I'll post some pictures!