Viola x wittrochiana 7 Hosta 'El Niño' - 28 April 2024

Botanical nomenclature brings together (sometimes) strange bedfellows. Consider that hostas and the tequila making agaves are part of the very large asparagus family.

Because I am a gardener I know that the botanical name of pansies is viola and violets are also violas.

When Rosemary and I moved to our present location in Kitsilano we did not have our huge Kerrisdale corner garden. We now had a deck with 3 flower beds and we converted the entrance to our unused laneway garage (it is my studio and oficina) into a little garden. We had and have about 45 old roses and most of them are in large terracotta pots. Rose plants, at their bottom, are not a pretty sight. We set out to find companion plants that could grow with roses without mutual interference. Our favourite was the gray plant (the one with a white flower) called Lychnis coronaria. It seeds itself so it comes back every year. We tried successfully using non-aggressive and small clematis. This last year (with Rosemary now gone) I tried some pansies. Today I found one white one happily blooming. It made me smile.

Lychnis coronaria - in memory of my Rosemary

In Spanish pansies are called pensamientos. While it translates to thoughts, because it is close to Latin – pensare – it sounds much more romantic. And when I think romantically I immediately think of my Rosemary. The pristine whiteness of this pansy somehow reflects the purity of thought that Rosemary used to deal with this unruly man.

For me the emergence of this viola is pure magic.