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Growing Pansies for Cut Flowers with Brenna Estrada of Three Brothers Blooms
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Can pansies be a cut flower? 🌸 You might be surprised! In this episode of The Backyard Bouquet Podcast, we’re chatting with Brenna Estrada, author of Pansies and the flower farmer behind Three Brothers Blooms. Brenna is on a mission to bring long-stemmed pansies back into the floral world, and she’s sharing everything you need to know about growing them successfully.
From the history of pansies as a cut flower to tips on growing them for bouquets, Brenna reveals why these delicate blooms deserve a place in every gardener’s cutting garden. Plus, we discuss the best pansy varieties for long stems, how to get vibrant colors, and why this flower has been overlooked for decades.
🌿 In This Episode, You'll Learn:
✔️ Why pansies were once a popular cut flower (and how they can be again!)
✔️ The best pansy varieties for cutting and arranging
✔️ How to grow pansies for long stems and vibrant colors
✔️ Tips for overwintering pansies and extending bloom time
✔️ The secrets behind hybridizing pansies and preserving rare varieties
📖 Get Brenna’s book, Pansies, here: https://bookshop.org/a/2182/9781643264004
Follow Brenna & Three Brothers Blooms:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebrothersblooms/
- Website: https://threebrothersblooms.com/
Check out Epic Gardening for high-quality gardening tools, raised beds, and expert resources to help you grow a thriving flower garden! Plus, you can save an extra 5% on your order when you use my code THEFLOWERINGFARMHOUSE at checkout!
🔗 Shop Epic Gardening here: https://shop.epicgardening.com/THEFLOWERINGFARMHOUSE
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” -Lao Tzu
👉 Listen now & subscribe to The Backyard Bouquet Podcast for more flower-growing tips, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes stories from the world of flower farming!
Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2025/03/11/ep-50-growing-pansies-for-cut-flowers/
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Transcript
Introduction to the Backyard Bouquet Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galizia of The Flowering Farmhouse. I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon.
00:00:17
Speaker
Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:32
Speaker
The Backyard Bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice.
Featured Guest: Brenna Estrada and Her Pansy Journey
00:00:39
Speaker
All right, flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
00:00:55
Speaker
Hey flower friends, before we dive into today's episode all about pansies, I have to share one of my favorite resources for gardeners, Epic Gardening. Whether you're growing flowers, herbs, or veggies, they have high quality tools, raised beds, have you heard of their birdie beds, and everything you need to get started.
00:01:15
Speaker
If you're dreaming of growing your own pansies this season, this is the perfect time to grab what you need. Plus, you can save 5% when you use my code, thefloweringfarmhouse, at checkout.
00:01:27
Speaker
Just head to the link in the show notes and happy planting!
00:01:33
Speaker
Welcome to a very special episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today we're celebrating the book launch of Pansies by Brenna Estrada of Three Brothers Blooms, who's joining us from her enchanting family-run flower farm on Camino Island in Washington.
00:01:53
Speaker
At Three Brothers Blooms, Brenna, alongside her husband and her three sons, cultivate a vibrant tapestry of pollinator-friendly plants across two and a half acres, creating a sanctuary for both flora and fauna.
00:02:07
Speaker
Their farm exemplifies the beauty and diligence of starting from seed, with each plant nurtured to tell its own lush story. Today we're marking a milestone with the release of Brenna's book, Pansies.
00:02:20
Speaker
This isn't just a guide, it's a passionate exploration of the colorful and fragrant world of pansies and violas, packed with Brenna's personal insights and flower farming wisdom.
00:02:31
Speaker
And Brenna is here with us today to share the inspiration behind her book, her journey as a flower farmer, and what makes these beloved blooms so special. Brenna, welcome to the podcast. I can't think of a better way to celebrate your book launch than diving straight into your story today.
00:02:47
Speaker
Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, I'm really, really grateful. Absolutely. I'm so excited to chat with you and learn more about your farm, as well as today is a huge day for you. Your book is out in the world.
00:03:03
Speaker
It is out in the world. it's um It's been a very long journey. um An amazing amount of support along the way. It's yeah it's kind of surreal still. even Even now, it's hard to believe that it all came to be.
00:03:20
Speaker
Well, congratulations. I can only imagine how much time and energy you have put into creating this book. I i write blog posts occasionally on my website, and I'm not very consistent.
00:03:32
Speaker
And trying to do that while juggling a farm is hard enough. So writing an entire book, I can only imagine, took a lot of dedication and time. it It was a lot. I am grateful for the support of my family, my husband and my boys being locked away in my library trying to write.
00:03:51
Speaker
ah The book definitely had its fair share of challenges in the beginning. So ah getting it going felt like it took a little bit longer. i think it was a big leap of faith for a lot of people, you know, doing a book that really hadn't been done. There's been gift books on pansies.
00:04:09
Speaker
um But there hasn't been a substantial book just on pansies and violas ever in the United States that I could find. um And the last one written that was really substantial was written by Rodney Fuller, which is amazing. I think it's the best book ever written on the pansy and the viola, but out of the UK. And that was in, I believe it was 1990. So it's been a long time since the pansies and violas have really been given us spotlight into the everything that they encompass. And I think they've been drastically overlooked for decades.
00:04:42
Speaker
So I'm hoping that my book will shift people's perspective and put them back in the spotlight where I think they've
00:04:50
Speaker
Well, it certainly seems like when you go on social media or the internet, you're seeing a lot more pictures these days of people growing pansies, not just for a garden flower, but as a cut flower.
The Art and Challenges of Pansy Hybridization
00:05:02
Speaker
So I'm very curious as a flower farmer, how did you get into pansies? What, what drew you to pansies and violas? So when I had left my previous career and found my way into flowers as a full-time job, it began at Fleuret.
00:05:19
Speaker
I took a position at Fleuret Flower. And so I got to work there with Erin for several years. And it was right around the time that I first started that she was also starting her pansy trials, trialing pansies for cut flowers. And I had never thought as pansies as anything other than just that common red, yellow, purple blotched flower you see in front of the hardware stores and they were everywhere and they were tiny. And why on earth would you want them in a flower bouquet?
00:05:46
Speaker
But she was, you know, trialing them for long stems and she was growing colors that I didn't even know existed in pansies and violas. And so that really intrigued my interest and kind of opened up that rabbit hole for me.
00:05:57
Speaker
um And at the same time, she was also doing her Dahlia book. She was doing a year in flowers. So there was a lot going on there. So as she transitioned her interest into the other things, um I kind of just kept diving into that world of pansies and violas. And then it created all these questions of, well, if there's all these colors, where where are they? Where are the other varieties like this? And then i started looking into the history and then seeing all these things that just really surprised me. And the more I dug and the more I read and the more I researched things,
00:06:28
Speaker
the more questions I began to keep having. And so I started documenting and logging and testing and all these things. And then that's where it kind of became that surely I am not the only person with these kinds of questions. And I started to feel that if people really knew everything that Pansy's been through and everything it's capable of, eight it's almost the past is where we could see the future can be again. And so that's where I just was like, well, I just, I have to write this in book.
00:06:55
Speaker
I have to put this out there. And you know champion for that pansy and the viola and really get it back into popularity. My hope is that it will inspire more hybridizing.
00:07:07
Speaker
um I feel like there's just not enough interest. It's very tedious to hybridize pansies and violas. And I think if they realize that there is this huge love for them and this huge market and this huge draw for the ruffles and the textures and these beautiful colors that are not the standard you know landscaping garden pansy, but this whole different array um My hope is that they'll bring those varieties back in to make them easily accessible.
00:07:34
Speaker
That's amazing. I think it's a really exciting time in the flower industry. It's so neat that you had this time with Erin at Floret because she's really pushing the boundaries for so many flowers and opening up a whole new world for cut flower growers to have all of these colors that didn't exist even a decade ago, it feels like.
00:07:56
Speaker
So that's so neat that that's where you got your start and you kind of had these little seeds sown for your love of pansies. How did you discover that they made a good cut flower? I mean, was that through Erin or through some trials or do they all make good cut flowers? i think so many people still just look at them as a backyard flower that you scatter among other things in your yard to fill space.
00:08:21
Speaker
Yeah, um she was growing them for cut flowers and she was getting stem-like. So I was able to see when I was working there that they were long enough to put into vases and long enough to use in handheld vacays. And, you know, her arrangements are just beyond magical and her creativity is astounding. So seeing her create all these things and the ah presence that the Panthers and Bylas had in her work was just, it was so inspiring to me. um So then obviously in my own trials, you know, I would come home and I would trial them on my own farm and on my own time and trying to see what I could find. and
00:08:53
Speaker
It was really fascinating um getting to do it for yourself. And I just, I can't encourage that strongly enough for people to do your own trials, especially if you feel a spark or a passion.
00:09:05
Speaker
um test the theories is you've been told, see how it does in your zone. Even just on our little island, the north end of our island and the south end are kind of different growing zones. So to find what works for you may actually be different than what you've always been told. And you're not going to know if you don't try.
00:09:21
Speaker
um and that's kind of how it was for me with the pansies was I was able to I don't want to say necessarily debug myths, but I was able to find things that worked and that I'm confident will work for other people in other zones just by pushing past it, despite having been told I couldn't do it, if that makes any sense.
00:09:40
Speaker
But yeah, Erin was definitely the one I think that was the first and she has been always just, you know, it's, it's no, this doesn't have to be how it always has to be. And showing there can be different colors and different textures and different uses for flowers. She's definitely a pioneer in that. So.
00:09:55
Speaker
yeah, yeah, that's definitely where it started. And then just, you know, on doing that on my own farm, really just pushing the boundaries. Well, we're so grateful for people like you and Aaron who are challenging the norm of what color cut flowers can be.
00:10:09
Speaker
I think it's, what's also making local flowers so special and unique because you're not going to find an imported bouquet ah pansies. At least I've never seen one. um i think of a online order of a bouquets that have been imported. I'm thinking like probably red roses or some daisies, but what's now possible to be grown in our own yards, either whether you're a backyard gardener a flower farmer are incredible. I mean, seeing some of your photos with these ruffled soft petals on these pansies looks like nothing like what i think of when you, I hear the word pansy.
00:10:50
Speaker
It's just I don't even know the right word for it. it's just It's literally changing and revolutionizing what's possible as a flower grower. So can all pansies be used for cut flowers?
00:11:03
Speaker
I don't believe all of them can. And it's interesting because you you exactly hit where the whole transition started. So
Growing and Caring for Pansies
00:11:10
Speaker
pansies were grown as cut flowers. And When you look back in the books written in 1830 and 1850 and, you know, all the way up through the early there's specific mentions and there's chapters on pansies of flowers. That's what they did.
00:11:25
Speaker
So they were there and it was always local growers at that time. You know, they didn't have refrigeration trucks. They didn't have flowers being flown up from Ecuador. It was just the local growers. So cut flowers as pansies of cut flowers were very prominent.
00:11:39
Speaker
And then it is actually when, when they started doing refrigerator trucking, when they started growing flowers in areas where it was more economical and more cost efficient, it kind of forced out those smaller growers.
00:11:50
Speaker
and therefore forced out the pansies because pansies don't do well in transport. They do amazing in vases. They don't do well being transported. You really have to grow them locally. So once that support of those local small flower farmers and growers stopped, so did the pansy as a cut flower.
00:12:07
Speaker
And it really, a lot of the places then shifted to growing for landscaping. um I think a lot of that time, the cut flower production moved almost essentially to California. And then they really shifted into landscape plants because everything was being flown in.
00:12:20
Speaker
So the pansy really evolved into, okay, well now we're four inches tall and hiding under a shrub. And that's just kind of where they sat for decades. But yeah, their origination was as a cut flower. And I think now that there's more flower farmers and more supporting a local flowers,
00:12:36
Speaker
coming into play and people are tired of the Ecuador red roses and the pink carnations and the white lilies. You know, they want these amazing, magical, whimsical flowers that are regional, that are local, that are seasonal, and they're just amazing.
00:12:50
Speaker
And it's through your local flower farmers and growers that you find those or just a normal gardener. You know, that's the nicest thing is that anybody can grow pansies and violets, whether you have a pot on a patio or and entire flower farm.
00:13:04
Speaker
everybody can grow them for at least part of the year. It is the most inclusive flower in existence, in my opinion. um But because they had hybridized them to then transfer to the demand of these tiny, compact little flowers, some of the varieties, they just they've basically been bred to where they no longer have those trailing traits.
00:13:24
Speaker
So you want the varieties that have that natural trailing habit of the original violet tricolor. um Those varieties are the ones where you're going to be able to draw out those stems and train them to grow upright. And it's it's interesting because people will usually discount pansies and violas as soon as they start to trail. um They either rip them out or replace them or assume they're dying, but that that's where you're getting the long stems. So it's the summer heat and growing them in the sun and training those long trailing stems is where they then transition from being short and compact to this beautiful flower, perfect for vase work and bouquets and arrangements.
00:14:03
Speaker
That is so fascinating. So they actually started as a cut flower. And because local flowers were suppressed as imports grew, they were literally bred to be a landscape plant. To be more compact. Yeah. And I mean, when they first started, they were, you know, they were so new and it was all about showing them. That was the big thing was show pansies. And it was more the bloom than the plant they were concerned with. Yeah.
00:14:30
Speaker
And I think it's when they realize, okay, well, there's still this trailing habit. That's when some of the gardeners were like, oh, these make amazing cut flowers as well. So you have the true genuine gardeners that are using them as cut flowers.
00:14:40
Speaker
And then you have the side that was growing them very solely for the purpose of the bloom and showing them. um But yeah, it's, it's, they were a prominent cut flower for a very long time. That's so interesting. So through your research and writing this book,
00:14:57
Speaker
Is it possible to still get some of those old world varieties that were, I don't even know if that's the right terminology for but those varieties that were grown back in the day, do they still exist? You know, it's interesting. It was actually after, right towards the end, when I had almost turned in my manuscript, that I came across a copy of the very first book ever written on the Pansy and Viola, just devoted solely to them.
00:15:18
Speaker
um And it was written in 1835. And he mentioned already in just that very first book, calling them the lost sorts. And what he's essentially saying is, you know, that they are labor intensive to hybridize and bring these beautiful new varieties.
00:15:32
Speaker
And that it's so you have to be very careful that when you see one you love, you don't just instantly let it flower itself to death, because sometimes they'll only put up one shoot from a seed. So you know, he really proponents for using cuttings and taking care of the plant and ensuring that that variety lives because once it's gone, it's it's gone.
00:15:50
Speaker
um And there were hundreds and hundreds of varieties in existence. And I have old catalogs and, you know, postcards and photos and paintings and books that show them and they're gone. There's a few, you know, that are older varieties that have been continued, but for the most part, they're just gone. And that's it's absolutely devastating. But seeing that these, you can still read, you know, the descriptions and you can see the photos of these colors and these textures. And so knowing that they could be there once,
00:16:19
Speaker
It inspires me to believe they can be there again. um So I'm hopeful that we can bring them back, if you will. But even just in the time since I wrote the book, there's four varieties in my book that I love, that I grew every year, and they've been discontinued.
00:16:33
Speaker
And they're in my top 10. So that, to me, is really alarming. And I i feel like we're right on this cusp where if we can just communicate to the hybridizers and the seed producers that you know this is what we want,
00:16:47
Speaker
versus what they think is popular. um I'm hopeful that we can keep some of these from being phased out and becoming lost sorts and help inspire more to come back into easier access through seed.
00:17:01
Speaker
So these four varieties that you just mentioned, do you still grow them in your garden where you, or in your, at your farm where you can save the seed and try and save these varieties? So, yes, I do have a very small select amount of seed. Um,
00:17:16
Speaker
You know, when it comes with seed, it's always the freshest seed is always best, but just through simply again, just trying because I don't just discount seed. I've had pansy seed germinate after seven years of being, I keep it all in my cooler. It's, you know, 40 degrees and Tupperware and you have seed I got seven years ago is is some of it is still germinating and not all of it. Some varieties only do well for a couple years, but I always tell people to test it before you toss it or in fact, just toss it in the garden and see it might surprise you.
00:17:43
Speaker
um Yeah, it's it's really spectacular. But it's the best way you have to continue is honestly through pettings. And it does even say that in the older books. and I think that's why it's so hard to get a new variety of pansy out because you have to grow it for so many years. It's so easy for the quality of the plants to deteriorate through seeds that it's really through the cuttings and the propagation, you ensure the health. And so they grow it for a very long time before they ever release it in seed form.
00:18:13
Speaker
So for me, it just felt like this was this whole arena that was a bit intimidating is now getting into trying to hybridize and save varieties. um Honestly, i was I was very intimidated of even going there. So i I hadn't done much. But yes, with the whole, the fact that these are four of my favorite varieties and I can't get them anymore. They're they're gone.
00:18:35
Speaker
So I do feel like this is now is the time where I need to start doing more work with propagating by cuttings and trying to carry them on. um you know, the seed doesn't come back true. So it's of the hybrid varieties. It's it's very tricky, but i I definitely just in the sake of trying to save these varieties, I feel like this is the year where I'll start pushing further into that area of trying to take the cuttings and propagate them further, at least for me to keep having them in my garden.
00:19:03
Speaker
So you just said that seed doesn't come back true to form. Does that mean the only way to replicate the plant is to take a cutting? Of the hybrids, yes. So if you have like viola cornuta, an older variety that is very true and very original, you will often get the same variety back through the seed. But the hybrids, the seed won't come back true to that hybrid.
00:19:24
Speaker
um A lot of times it'll be a genetic jump or it'll just be a not very good quality version of the previous plants. um And I think that's you know part hybrids or pansies are just very expensive and time consuming to hybridize.
00:19:38
Speaker
It's why the seed is very expensive. um Compared to other flower seed. So I think that plays a big part in the difficulty of trying to keep them going. But yeah, I do. I just, I feel like now is the time that we really need to invest more time. And I hope ah um efforts into bringing about those varieties that were lost so many years ago.
00:20:02
Speaker
i can tell you're so passionate about this. Are you hybridizing them yourself? No, i am not. I have not. um done any of that yet. I have the space, but it is definitely, it would be a huge transition on my farm because that's where you go to, you know, needing to change my space to ensure it's closed. It's the hand pollination. It's year after year of growing the same variety to check for the genetics and the health. And, um, there's so much that goes into that. And, um,
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah, it's something I am just now learning about. And i plan to do some writing. I've been visiting some really incredible hybridizers actually all over the world and learning from them and how they're furthering the pansy. And it's amazing to see. And I'm really excited, ah hoping that their efforts can make a fit bigger presence in the United States here soon. But I'll be sharing more of that and um throughout the summer as I'm able to get it all written up and do it justice, I guess, if you will, in my sharing of it. But yeah, it's i'm I'm hopeful and I will probably start trying to hybridize and do some cuttings just for the sake of ensuring its future. Okay.
00:21:12
Speaker
So you mentioned you've been doing this traveling all over the world, meeting hybridizers. Are these people featured in your book? They are not featured in my book. So i have some, um most of my favorite pansies are Italian pansies. And these are the ones that I offer for sale on my website. I really am trying to make them accessible for small scale growers. Larger flower farms have the ability so to wholesale them in as I do.
00:21:37
Speaker
um But when you have to order them from another country, you're ordering in large, large quantities and it's already expensive seed and you're having to pay import fees, sanitary certificates, everything to get them here.
00:21:48
Speaker
So it's just not feasible for a small scale grower to do that. But I feel like it's unfair then that they can't grow them. i mean, you know, anyone should be able to grow these varieties. So that's kind of where I started even just selling the seed is just trying to make it accessible to everybody, regardless of how many pansies they want to grow.
00:22:06
Speaker
um But those Italian varieties are absolutely beautiful. And they are most similar to the older fancy pansies um that I love so dearly. And those are in my book. There's several of those varieties in my book.
00:22:20
Speaker
um And that is one of the places that I visited to learn about hybridizing But the other is everything that's taking place in Japan. And it's absolutely astounding um what they have been doing with pansies over there. So I tried to reach out to them and I just couldn't seem to make that connection before I got my book written.
00:22:40
Speaker
have And then it was very serendipitous that that connection was made. right after my book was written, because I thought, well, gosh, it's still perfect timing, the book's out. And now I can, you know, through further writing, show people all the work that's being done in Japan for the pansies. And it's, it's really incredible.
00:22:58
Speaker
Yeah. So it sounds like there might be a need for a book number two after this. No. Yes, I don't know. i mean, it's, you know, honestly, it's, it's more,
00:23:11
Speaker
I feel like I poured everything I could into the care and growing of the pansy in the first book. um I had to actually cut short the history section. I had to remove an entire section on pansies and art and literature because the book was, it was too long. It was funny. My editor was like, you know, it's rare. We have a growing book that has too many words. Like you wrote too much info. We got a take out some of the info. There's not enough photos.
00:23:34
Speaker
So it was kind of funny in that sense, but I don't know that I would write another book on pansies, I really, my hope was just to turn attention to them in general and to kind of light that fire in other people. So I would be more than happy to help champion these new hybridizers and get the attention to what they're doing in Japan and get the attention to what they're doing in Italy.
00:23:58
Speaker
um You know, I love to write, so I'll always write, I'm sure, a little resources and articles and and things like that. But I don't i don't know. i don't know if I would write another book on the pansy because it's I don't know. Maybe, maybe with the varieties.
00:24:12
Speaker
I don't know. I've never thought on that. That's really interesting. It just seems like there's so much to them that I had no idea even existed. So it sounds like Japan and Italy are really leading the charge on breeding new light and life to pansies.
00:24:29
Speaker
Is there anywhere in the U.S. that is focused on breeding pansies right now that you're aware of? Yeah, that's the hard thing. You know, it's interesting because it feels like it's almost this secretive world with the hybridizing of the pansies and the pansy societies. I tried so hard to connect with pansy societies all over the world and try to connect with hybridizers in the U.S. And it's really difficult to find them, which I feel like is a bummer. um But we have had some really beautiful varieties here.
00:24:59
Speaker
um That's the other thing, too, is a really hard tracing where they came from. You know, were they hybridized here or were they imported here? I know Germany does some really beautiful work with pansies and violas and so does Switzerland. And so there's other countries that have been involved in these really, really beautiful varieties.
00:25:16
Speaker
But for the work that they're doing in Japan and Italy, it's definitely at the top of my list. It's just absolutely exceptional. it is very close to, if not better than some of those original varieties. So I am really, really excited for what may come in the next few years and I'm hoping I can help bring some recognition to them so that their efforts can be more appreciated and applauded and more support garnered to further them along.
00:25:44
Speaker
That's so neat. So through your research, with all of your research, I'm curious, what have you learned about the hybridization process? Is it a couple year process? Is it a lifetime? Like I know that irises take years and years and tulips take years and years, but dahlias, it's maybe like three to five years to bring something to market.
00:26:04
Speaker
How does it work with pansies? Yeah. With pansies, you know, I think it depends on the quality of the plant. So when you have a true hybridizer that really, really is doing it for the genuine love of bringing about these very healthy, very beautiful varieties that are going to continue to come true, that are going to continue to be healthy.
00:26:24
Speaker
It does take years. It takes years and years. And I remember one of the first pansies out of Switzerland, that family devoted 30 years to this one variety of pansy, to just ensuring and perfecting that it had all the right traits and came back year after year and was very reliable.
00:26:40
Speaker
So it's, it's very, very time consuming. It is definitely a labor of love. um It's one of the reasons I didn't go much into it in my book is just because it's, for me, i am going to be a forever student of trying to learn how to hybridize pansies and um if I ever got to a point where I had ones ready to release, you know that would be amazing. But I feel like that's going to be realistically at least a decade down the road, just because there's so much that goes into it. And I have so much to learn.
00:27:12
Speaker
That's fascinating. Thank you for sharing that. I'm super curious, how tall can a pansy actually get? You know, its it's interesting. Obviously, there's factors. There's factors on growing environment. There's factors on growing technique. There's factors on which seed you're using. um The tallest pansy, it's actually a violet. The tallest violet stem I've ever got by measuring is the variety ArcRite Ruby.
00:27:37
Speaker
um It's a beautiful red. And even if you don't like red, this is a really beautiful red. And it has a little spot of gold and a little tiny blotch. But I grew them on my trellis with my sweet piece.
00:27:48
Speaker
And I had a stem, actually multiple stems get above 38 inches tall. They essentially started vining. And I was really shocked. And I did see though, in one book, they mentioned that there was a gentleman that had tried to introduce a variety that was getting 48 inches tall.
00:28:06
Speaker
I think this was in the twenty s the 1920s, but there was no interest at the time. Nobody wanted them that tall. So he just kind of let it die out. But it it makes you wonder, you know, okay, well, and And I feel like you need to just keep testing that and keep trialing that. Like, can can we bring about literally vining pansies? Is that a thing? is that Is that possible?
00:28:25
Speaker
have no idea. So, but yeah, above 38 inches is astounding to me. um Reliably, like as far as, you know, a good bulk of the stems being tall, I would say probably between 14 20 inches is where most of my long stems tend to fall. okay um Plenty long enough for Definitely jars and bases and arrangements and bouquet work.
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah. Amazing. So I'm curious, when you're saying 14 to 20 inches of stem length, is that a single stem or is that a spray? So they shoot out from the base of the plant. They all have the same kind of base. And then you'll get these basal shoots that are the first shoots to come out.
00:29:06
Speaker
um And it's once they flower, they hollow out. And then they they continue to elongate. So you want to keep deadheading and it's these long trailing stems that not the first little tiny stem, you know, that people are used to picking that's anywhere from two to six inches.
00:29:20
Speaker
It's the main stalk that you'll have multiple pansies growing off. That is what you're trailing long and then training to grow upright. And that is what you're going to cut. And when you cut it at its peak time, usually around June is when I start cutting my pansies for long stems from my first crop that I sow in January.
00:29:39
Speaker
um You cut them down to the first joint. And what that does is that gives you not only the longest stem, but it then prompts the plant to shoot up new basil shoots. And if you take care of it right, it will then go into bloom again in the same year.
00:29:53
Speaker
So, yeah. So each plant is only giving you couple if you time it right to cut it. Is that correct? It depends on the variety. Yeah, it depends on the plant. So each seed you sow, um you could get anywhere from one to upwards of 12 long stems per, I guess, if you would say bloom cycle for that plant.
00:30:15
Speaker
And then once you cut it down to the joint, then that one plant will again begin to put out those seeds. those trailing stems, and then you could go through another cutting process, potentially depending on your zone.
00:30:26
Speaker
Fascinating. So you are literally deadheading encouraging it to keep growing up that stem yeah produce more. So you're not using those first blooms on it.
00:30:38
Speaker
How do you know then when it has gotten to the bloom to cut? It's more um the stem, how long the stem is. And you'll notice because the biggest thing when you're growing It is all the purpose, you know, the purpose of what you're growing them for. You're growing them for beautiful blooms for edible flowers and to put in salads and cooking and things.
00:30:56
Speaker
Because if that's the case, you want the first blooms. The first blooms that come off in that late spring are the most vibrant and beautiful and luscious. And if that's what you're growing for, those are the blooms you want.
00:31:07
Speaker
But if you're growing the plant for cut flower production, um you actually, as painful as it is, want to deadhead vigorously through the spring. because you're wanting the plant to put all its energy into its roots.
00:31:18
Speaker
Because the healthy root base is what's going to give it the energy and the ability to bloom through the warm summer days, or to, I'm sorry, to grow through the warm summer days and keep pushing out those long stems while remaining healthy.
00:31:31
Speaker
um And it'll continue to bud. The pansy and viola are a plant that will literally flower themselves to death. They will just continue to to push out those buds and push out those flowers continuously. So you have to deadhead to let it kind of rejuvenate itself.
00:31:46
Speaker
And even with cut flower production, um I will go through usually once a month and I will deadhead everything. All of my pansies and violas, no matter where they are in their bloom cycle, they all just get deadheaded to really just give them a nice reset and let them kind of exhale for a little bit.
00:32:02
Speaker
Interesting. So could you potentially take those early blooms and use them for edibles and then also use it as a cut flower? absolutely. you can have it be multipurpose.
00:32:14
Speaker
Oh yeah, absolutely. I love deadheading for me. it's It's fun. And if you do, if you deadhead before that starts to shrivel, which is better for the plant. I mean, I put them in my bathtub. I put them in my salads. i They're fantastic, especially the fragrant varieties ah like Viola Tiger Eye and...
00:32:32
Speaker
What is the arc, right? Ruby is really strong. Floral days morning dew. They all smell like chocolate and honey. So when you bring them indoors and you like sprinkle them in a bathtub or even stick them in a jar in your car, the fragrance is incredible. It's absolutely intoxicating.
00:32:47
Speaker
Yeah. So i I always make use of my deadheading or pressed flowers. I mean, candies and violas are one of the greatest pressed flowers there are. So if you're deadheading when the bloom is, you know, more ideal, then yeah, you can press them as well.
00:32:59
Speaker
I had no idea that they could have a fragrance. They do. Yeah. It's not every variety. It's some of them. um I think the ones that tend to maintain more of that original violet trait have the that beautiful fragrance. But if you're really wanting the plant to stay healthy, especially if you're going to be working with cuttings or or trying your own hand at hybridizing, then you do want to literally remove it in bud form.
00:33:21
Speaker
So you want a deadhead before it even gets to a bloom. um But if you're working just mostly for cut flower production, I usually let them bloom. And then as soon as they open, I'll take them off.
00:33:32
Speaker
um It just depends you know on on how healthy you're really wanting that base stock to be with your purpose for using it. That is so fascinating.
Understanding Pansies and Violas
00:33:41
Speaker
I have a question that might be ah silly one, and it's my own ignorance of not having grown many pansies before.
00:33:50
Speaker
You mentioned that your book is pansies and violas, and you've mentioned both. What is the difference? Are they the same or are they different? Can you help me understand? it's It's so funny because I get asked that all the time. So There's this thing, every pansy is a viola, but not every viola is a pansy. And so they're all under the same genus of viola. All of them pansies, violas, violettas, and violets.
00:34:14
Speaker
um The difference comes down to literally how they've been crossbred and hybridized. So the garden pansy is the viola retrochiana. um And then you have the viola willensee, which is what they used to call the violetta.
00:34:28
Speaker
um so it's But everything has been so thoroughly crossed now. I personally could never possibly tell just by looking at something. um There's been things where I'm like, oh, that's definitely a pansy. Because I used to say it was by the pedal count, you know three up, two down, one in the center.
00:34:43
Speaker
But they're so hybridized and crossed now that I found that's not even true entirely anymore. So it's really hard to tell is the bottom line. It's just a matter of the genetics and how they've been hybridized as to whether they fall into one class or another. Okay. Yeah.
00:35:00
Speaker
That's good to know. so So if it says pansy, it is actually a viola and it's part of ah larger genius of flowers. Yes, the genius violet. Yes, they're all under the same genus. Absolutely.
00:35:13
Speaker
Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. So we've talked so much about pansies. I would love to know who can grow them. Can everyone grow pansies?
00:35:24
Speaker
I honestly believe everybody can grow pansies for at least part of the year. um I grow mine all through summer. I grow them. We get summer weeks where it's 80s and 90s.
00:35:35
Speaker
and We had one summer where it got up into the 100, think 116 it peaked at for us. And my pansies, they lived through it. They're not always in my perfect bloom. And I think that's important to explain that it doesn't mean that you're going to have this beautiful, perfect, photo-worthy, you know, lush blooms all the time. That's not the case.
00:35:53
Speaker
But the plant can be maintained and it will continue to bloom sporadically um if you just care for it right. And I've even had pansy plants. overwinter for multiple seasons, they've essentially become perennial or perennials in my garden.
00:36:06
Speaker
um But they actually do okay in the sun, as long as you care for the roots properly. um It's just in the care of the plant is going to dictate how well it does through the sun or through the cold, through the winter, through the fall.
00:36:19
Speaker
um But I think every zone has the ability to grow them for at least a portion of the year, you just want to grow it during the time where it's going to be most ideal to keeping the roots happy.
00:36:30
Speaker
But they like I said, I mean, you can grow in pots. So even people that don't have a yard, people in a city, if you have at least six hours of sunlight and a pot, you can grow pansies. So yeah. Interesting.
00:36:42
Speaker
I think everybody. Yeah. So since you mentioned growing them in a pot, I always think of like potted plants, like on a balcony and in city having lots of varieties of flowers. What do you, can you companion plant with them? Do they like certain flowers to grow next to in the garden setting?
00:37:02
Speaker
They are a great companion plant. I plant them with all my roses. They do great because they do um the way their growth habit is they help snuff out weeds. So I think they're a great companion plant to grow.
00:37:14
Speaker
with other plants where you would otherwise be getting weeds coming, which is probably another reason why they've been so popular for decades, you know, underneath shrubs and as a ground cover, because they do help snuff out the weeds. um The only thing you want to mind is that just remembering for the pansies to be healthy, they need to have cool moisture at their roots at all times.
00:37:33
Speaker
And you also want to water slowly and deeply to encourage their roots to stay at least four to six inches down. If you're doing frequent shallow watering, their roots are going to pull up and that's what kills them.
00:37:45
Speaker
It's their roots being only two inches below the surface. They're just, they're not going to thrive. um So if you're planting them with plants that have different watering needs, you're going to have issues. So I think as long as you can find a plant with the same type of root system that enjoys the same type of environment, then I think they honestly can be paired with anything.
00:38:03
Speaker
So when you plant them with like roses, for example, are you starting them in seed trays and then sowing them out in the garden are you just scattering seeds around your roses? I do both. The pansies that are, because the seed is so expensive and the hybrids can be a bit finicky, um all my seed that I'm very invested in, if you will, I always start in seed trays.
00:38:24
Speaker
It germinates best. It temps between 60 and 68 degrees. um i I want to be able to control when I plant them. So I always start them in seed trays. That's just what works best for me with my environment, with the crop I need and when I want to be able to plant out.
00:38:39
Speaker
But you know, they do fine if you put them in a pot and just wait for the natural temperatures to warm them. um I wouldn't recommend that with the hybrid varieties. They are a bit finisher. But if you're doing the, you know, the violas and the heartier garden pansies, you don't need to start them indoors. You can, you can totally sprinkle them. They're voracious self-seeders. I mean, they'll,
00:38:59
Speaker
sprinkle themselves and grow everywhere. I mean, you will see a violet growing in a crack on the sidewalk. You know, they're, they really will surprise you. They're pretty hardy. Yeah. Yeah. I had a few at our last house that I had put around this tree that we had planted for our dog. And my daughter at the nursery was like, oh, we have to buy a couple of these. I was like, okay. So we bought two pot, two little, um, probably, i think they were like four by four pots of them.
00:39:25
Speaker
And I didn't think anything other than I kept them watered. And the next year, they completely took over the space. And it was amazing how, I mean, I'm in zone 7B and we get really cold and they came back and multiplied. and was like, oh, this is great that they came back without any attention. I love low maintenance and plants like that.
00:39:46
Speaker
Yeah, i completely agree. We had a winter that got down to, for us, single digits, which is very abnormal for our zone to get all the way into single digits for that long of a period. But um quite a few of the pansies came back. I was really surprised.
00:39:58
Speaker
And the ones that i i will do multiple seed sowings in a year. So I sow in January and then I sow again, usually in early April. And then my last sowing usually in July. And the July ones are the ones where then I then plant out into the garden and I cover with a couple inches of leaves. And then I overwinter them to be the first blooms.
00:40:16
Speaker
that next year. um But, you know, even with just the light layer of leaves, they all survived. They all survived those single digit temperatures. So that's why I tell people, you know, just try it. Just try it. Don't just give it a try and see because really what do you have to lose? And it might surprise you with how well they do in your particular growing zone.
00:40:35
Speaker
With that information, do you then treat yours as annuals or perennials? How do you treat yours? I do both depending on my space. So I have raised beds devoted specifically to pansies. I have the ones that I grow among all my roses. i have ones that I grow within my flocks. I found that they also will reach some of the similar heights as my annual flocks.
00:40:58
Speaker
um So depending where I'm growing it and my needs for that space dictates whether i let them stay as perennials or whether I kind of do a new fresh crop each year as annuals. So it's a little bit of both how I'm set up here.
00:41:11
Speaker
Because I have such a small space in general for my flower farm, I just have to be very particular with how I grow. Gotcha. Thank you. What about disease or pests?
00:41:23
Speaker
Are there diseases or certain pests that are attracted to pansies? Yeah, absolutely. um they Because they need that constant moisture at their root base, it is very easy to overwater them and they are very susceptible to root rot.
00:41:40
Speaker
um They can get powdery mildew. um Leaf spot is huge. For me in the Pacific Northwest, it's almost impossible to avoid getting leaf spot at one time or another on my pansies and my roses.
00:41:53
Speaker
It's just we have rain on really warm summer days. So even if you're not overhead watering, you're going to get moisture introduced when it's warm. And it just it's it's just the part of growing. Like even when I've had my worst cases of leaf spot, um if it's really bad, I'll treat them with OMRI certified rust treater kind of thing. I have a few brands that I've used and they work great.
00:42:15
Speaker
They both survive. You know, they don't look great for a while, but you deadhead and you treat them and the plants, every plant came through just fine. So when it gets really bad, you can treat them. But yeah, leaf spot, the mildew, the root rot, those are the primary things. Pests, I mean, they can get aphids. They can get spider mites.
00:42:31
Speaker
um Rabbits love them. Deer like them. So it just it just depends. ah The worst enemy, in my opinion, though, is the slug. I have lost so many pansies to slugs and snails.
00:42:45
Speaker
um I have ducks now. They are truly the protectors of my pansies. They are worth their weight in gold for how many slugs they devour. And knock on wood, they have never once eaten an actual pansy plant.
00:42:56
Speaker
So ducks are great if you don't mind the poo. um And then sluggo plus, which is also okay for organic gardening. And I'm recertified. The sluggo plus is really, really good at keeping the slugs at bay from the pansies.
00:43:11
Speaker
I don't know about you, but here in the Pacific Northwest and Hood River this last year, Our slugs were terrible in the spring. They were so bad, no matter how much slug-o-plus I put down. That's the only chemical that I put down on my farm.
00:43:27
Speaker
And I could not keep the slugs at bay last spring. Yeah. no they were they were absolutely awful. Yeah. It was a really rough year for them. And they are. I think they're definitely the biggest enemy is s the slugs and the snails. Okay.
00:43:41
Speaker
And thankfully, those seem to go away, at least for us in about June, which is right when the ball blooms are coming on, it sounds like, with the pansies. Yeah, when it gets hotter. um For the long stem ones, yeah, they usually, slugs aren't as bad, but yeah.
00:43:58
Speaker
What is your favorite pansy variety that you have discovered? Or your top five? I'm going to put you on the spot. Oh, man. i know I've grown over a hundred different varieties um wow The Black Pansy itself is my absolute favorite flower in the world.
00:44:16
Speaker
um i am completely enamored with them in a beautiful white base. They are so stunning. And a lot of the Black varieties are fragrant. and If I had to pick a variety within the Black Pansy, it would probably be Accord Black Beauty or Black Prince.
00:44:31
Speaker
They so beautiful. Their shape, absolutely love them. They're really great for long flowers too or for long stems. As for non-black pansies, um the tiger eye viola is probably my favorite viola. It's just so striking and beautiful. And it is very, very fragrant. One of the most fragrant that there are.
00:44:50
Speaker
um and then for the beautiful frilly ones that everybody loves, Chianti is fantastic. I think it's the most popular seed that I sell. It's got those beautiful raspberry streaks that it's so well known for, the ruffles.
00:45:04
Speaker
And then Flamenco terracotta is almost like the warmer, citrusy, tiny bit larger bloomed version of Chianti. It's really, really beautiful.
00:45:16
Speaker
um Although I have to say, I fell madly in love with, there's a variety called Flamenco Soft Light Azur Lemonette. And it's these, mermaid I'm calling it the mermaid pansy because it's these shades of lilac and lavender and oyster and alabaster. And you'll get hints of shimmering blue in there. And it's really beautiful.
00:45:37
Speaker
ah few orchid pinks, but Yeah, I think that ends up being more than five, but those are those are the ones that I love most right now. That sounds like a great list. I can't wait to go look those up after we're done chatting here.
00:45:50
Speaker
um Are there any colors that pansies do not come in? Greens, although Envy, the pansy Envy, which is, have a massive love-hate relationship with that one. It is so difficult to germinate. It just has terrible, terrible germination rates.
00:46:08
Speaker
um But once you can get it germinated, it's actually been one that I have had do well as a perennial. It's come back year after year. And it grows in kind of this olive, sepia, greenish, gold color.
00:46:21
Speaker
It's really, really unique. It'll have hints of like purple in it. um It's really beautiful. But that's the closest to green that I've ever seen a pansy. But they come in blue, obviously purple, red, yellow, orange, um pinks, whites.
00:46:37
Speaker
blacks, and they even come in browns. There shades of bronze and mahogany and chestnut. So um next to the bearded iris, which is my second favorite flower, um I think these two trump every other flower in the range of color that they can actually bloom in.
00:46:53
Speaker
That's so fascinating. So how many varieties are you growing right now? um This year, i think I'm only growing, i just sowed my first 16 trays of the season, I think I'm only growing 52 varieties this year.
00:47:10
Speaker
So not including what's already in the garden, what has come back, what, you know, self-season, those are a whole different realm of unknown varieties. But for actual intention, I think I'm only doing about 52 varieties this year.
00:47:24
Speaker
That sounds like a lot to someone who hasn't grown them other than in the garden in the past. It's hard, you know, because when I'm trying to narrow it down and just for that, you know, I'm trying to turn attention to other projects now that the book is completed. um But I am as I'm going through my list and I'm like, okay, who am I not going to grow this year?
00:47:41
Speaker
And it's like, they're my friend now. And it's like, well, how do I say I'm not going to grow this one, you know? And how do I tell this one? No, I'm not going to grow you this year. And it It was really hard for me to decide to narrow down a little bit this year so I can make room for other projects, which ones not to grow. But yeah, yeah.
00:48:00
Speaker
Sounds like a good problem to have. They all sound so beautiful. And your pictures are so gorgeous of all of them. How do people get their hands on these seeds? do you You said you sell seeds?
00:48:11
Speaker
I do. um Like I said, it it started just in me really trying to help. get the seed available to small scale growers. Um, I did a couple of sales last year. My first sale was really just a trial run to see if anyone even wanted the seed and it sold out in I think two and a half hours.
00:48:29
Speaker
And then I felt so terrible that people didn't get seed that then I rushed and did another sale. And I think that one sold out in six hours. So I feel like, well, people definitely are trying to get these beautiful varieties. So I'll have ah sale on April 21st, um,
00:48:43
Speaker
um And that won't be too big just because I have so much going on with the book that I just don't have the capacity to do a huge sale. So it'll be a smaller sale, but at least some seeds.
00:48:54
Speaker
I'm doing three really beautiful kind of fancy pansies and then um three in the black varieties and three violas that I really love. um And then in the fall, I will do hopefully, if everything goes well, I will do a larger seed sale.
00:49:08
Speaker
so ah Will it be too late in April for people to sow seeds? No, depending on when you sow. So if you want to sow your pansies to be able to plant out in the fall to overwinter, that's fine timing because you can sow them in July and plant them out depending on your zone. I do a sowing in April because those are the ones that I actually then have come into bloom and long stems for fall flowers.
00:49:34
Speaker
So the ones that I sow in January, I'm usually cutting in June. The ones I sow in April are the ones I'm usually cutting then in August and September. um So it's not necessarily too late. But again, if you feel like, oh, I'm not going to be planting these till next January, you know, just pop them in Tupperware in your fridge at 40 degrees and they will be perfect.
00:49:54
Speaker
Awesome. Thank you for that information.
Balancing a Flower Farm and Book Tour
00:49:57
Speaker
So this is a big year for you. The book is coming out. Well, it's it's out today as as of the release of this podcast episode. So what's next on your agenda?
00:50:09
Speaker
Now that the book is out in the world, do you go back two just focusing on your farm or will there be a book tour? What comes next? um It's, oh man. Yeah. I'm really trying to figure out exactly where to ah dial my energy in this year. I feel like I have so much on the horizon and so many opportunities. So do have a book tour. I have some really amazing events.
00:50:35
Speaker
Um, on the 19th, I will be at Wade Hill in New York on a panel alongside two women that I admire so deeply. Um,
00:50:46
Speaker
I'm really excited to be part of that. So that's part of the tour. I'm going to be going down to Texas. I have some really amazing workshops with some incredible artists that are going to be happening in this area out here in the Pacific Northwest.
00:50:57
Speaker
um So there'll be some touring and some more traveling. But other than that, I do have some other projects in the works. so so I do have to try to divert my time and attention to that. And then I just, you know, I also just still love growing flowers. I love being a flower farmer and apply flowers to some local business. I have a good regular customer database that i they reach out regularly when they want bouquets. I have some subscriptions. So it's also making sure that I'm here for that.
00:51:23
Speaker
um It's a lot, it's a lot, it's a lot of different hats. And this year is very different for me. This is the first year that I've really you know, the books out there and I'm going to be pulled away from the farm a lot. So that's also a factor because it's just me and my boys of when I'm planning my growing schedule, planning it around knowing there's going to be big chunks of me not being at the farm so that the farm is still manageable for them. Yeah. So your family will run the farm while you are traveling with the book tour.
00:51:51
Speaker
Yes. The three brothers will have to be full time back out at it. Yeah. Through the summer. How old are your boys now? Uh, they are 17 and 15 and 11.
00:52:04
Speaker
Okay. So they're old enough. They can take on some responsibility on the farm now. Yeah. It's really nice. You know, when everything started and that's where the name came from, um we were so tiny and I honestly had no intentions of being all legit business, but my boys were so young and it was my oldest. He couldn't have been oh gosh, maybe eight at the time. But he said, okay, can we sell these at a farmer's market? Can we sell our flowers? And that's where I was like, well, of then we have to have at least a business name.
00:52:30
Speaker
So it became Three Brothers Blooms. And they they would they would hustle and they they harvested the flowers and they hauled them to the market and they would sell them and they would talk to people. They were really the entire foundation of why it even got going. So I just updated my logo this year to kind of keep up with my shift towards pansies. But I won't ever change the name just because that's, you know, that's the root. That's the start.
00:52:56
Speaker
I love that so much. That's so sweet. And I love that they are so involved with the business that our kids grow up so fast. So um that is really special.
00:53:09
Speaker
I know we're coming close to our time here today. What is the one thing that you hope people take away from your book?
00:53:19
Speaker
hi The biggest thing with my book, my biggest intention was really just to challenge the perspective and stereotypes around Pansies. i just If nothing else, I just hope people will just give it another chance. Give the book a glance, even if you just get it from the library or borrow a copy. I'm not even saying you have to buy it, but just look through the photos and just see what's possible and just let that little seed be sown to where they think okay, maybe I have underestimated the pansy. maybe Maybe I should grow it more because I am so confident that once you see all that it's capable of, you will fall as madly in love with it as I am. um
00:53:57
Speaker
It's really just championing for the pansy's future. And because it is so difficult to hybridize, I do think it's very important that people feel very passionately about it so that there is the willingness to keep it going and keep these beautiful varieties out there. But yeah, I think that's think that's my biggest hope is just to get a few more people to fall in love with it like I have.
00:54:18
Speaker
I'm sure that you are inspiring so many more people than you even know. For those who are intrigued after listening to our conversation today and want to pick up a copy of your book, where can they find the book Pansy's?
00:54:32
Speaker
It is available pretty much everywhere books are sold. I've had people ordering it in the UK and Australia and New Zealand, um everywhere in the US. I'm a huge proponent for supporting your local bookstore.
00:54:45
Speaker
If you are able, i think they are essential. And then it's also available on my website. If you want a signed copy or a copy personalized, I'm more than happy to do that. So it's available on my website as well.
00:54:57
Speaker
Perfect. We'll provide a link on today's show notes for that. And can you share with our listeners, where else can they find you? What is your website and your social media? Yeah, my website is threebrothersblooms.com and the same for my Instagram as threebrothersblooms.
00:55:14
Speaker
Thank you. And before we say goodbye today, i always love to ask our guests, what is one piece of advice you would give to our listeners? Yeah. My biggest piece of advice, I think the biggest thing I have learned is pace.
00:55:30
Speaker
I think that especially in the flower farming world, we are up against nature. There is so much that is out of our control. um And sometimes your windows to accomplish things are so small.
00:55:44
Speaker
And other times you have no window at all. And other times you have a huge window. And I think the beast of comparison is really, really big in the flower farming world, especially with social media. um And I've done years where I've been at a full out hauled, literally cause yourself injury pace day after day. And I have had seasons where I have mellowed myself down. And i think it's really important to give yourself grace.
00:56:12
Speaker
And don't always feel the need to be pushing at that maximum full steam, literally breaking your joints kind of pace because it's just not sustainable for your body or your mind or your soul.
Closing Reflections and Encouragement
00:56:24
Speaker
um I think listening to what your body needs, listening to what your heart needs, I think being in flowers, being in nature, growing, you're you're very connected to nature. And if you pay attention, you realize that you evolve in the same cycles it does.
00:56:38
Speaker
And I think that's the biggest thing is I have found that by being more at peace with that and kind of allowing myself to ebb and flow with my pace along with how I'm feeling out there with nature in the seasons has brought me a lot greater, um, peace and serenity. And I will tell you, everything does find a way to get done.
00:56:58
Speaker
It feels like it's not going to, but even after shifting from that hectic, crazy, massive, giving myself so many wrists and shoulder and elbow injuries to a pace that I can sustain, I still get everything done.
00:57:10
Speaker
So, That would be my biggest thing is just to take care of yourself. I love that. That's beautiful advice. It reminds me there's a quote, and I can't think of who said it right now. I'll attribute it in the show notes, so but it says, nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
00:57:31
Speaker
Yes, and it is it's very true. Something else I have trialed, I've tested it and I've trialed it and I can say that um I do, I do believe that. I do too.
00:57:41
Speaker
Well, I so appreciate you joining us today, Brenna. It has been an absolute delight to chat with you and learn more about your book. And I'm so anxious to get a copy and see it myself. It sounds like you've literally poured your heart and soul into sharing the beauty of pansies with all of us. So thank you so much. And I'd love to leave the door open to have you back on the podcast again.
00:58:04
Speaker
Oh, I would love to come back. Thank you. i know I realized once I get talking that... it There's so much. There's so much. So thank you. Thank you for ah humbly listening along with me. And um hopefully nobody got bored of listening to me ramble on and on about pansies. But yeah, it's a lot. There's so much to them.
00:58:24
Speaker
There is so much. um And there's so much more to your story that we didn't even get to hear. So we will save that for a follow-up conversation someday, because I know you have a very fascinating story about your farm as well.
00:58:36
Speaker
So thank you so much for being a guest today. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I hope today's episode has excited you to grow your own pansies this season.
00:58:47
Speaker
If you're looking for gardening tools and supplies to make planting even easier, be sure to check out Epic Gardening. They have everything you need from raised birdie beds and seeds to handy tools that make growing more enjoyable.
00:59:01
Speaker
And don't forget, you can save an extra 5% on your order with my code, TheFloweringFarmhouse, at checkout. Find the link in the show notes and happy growing.
00:59:13
Speaker
Thank you, flower friends, for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. I hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today.
00:59:24
Speaker
Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer, you're contributing to the local flower movement. And we're so happy to have you growing with us. If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast.
00:59:43
Speaker
I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the backyard.