Garden Photo of the Day

See Pansies With New Eyes

A gardener sees faces in her flowers

Today we’re visiting the garden of Terry Smyth and enjoying the unique point of view she brings to looking at her flowers.

I just found your site and wanted to share my perspective on flowers. My name is Terry Smyth, and my home is on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. I’m not an expert at gardening by any means, but I do enjoy my garden for many reasons. One important reason is that it allows me time to feel free and feed my soul. Every day I awake with anticipation and excitement to see the next gift from nature—especially in the springtime.

Thank you for allowing me to share what makes my heart full and always brings a smile to my face.

I work with children who have facial differences; therefore, I see faces in many elements. To me, pansies have such expressions.

I entitled this one ”You know the pollen is bad when the pansies are sneezing.” The faces and expressions on many pansies just beg for captions! They make me laugh out loud every morning.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

“The gang’s all here!”

“Why can’t I be in front?”

And a view without pansy faces—masses of creeping phlox (Phlox subulata, Zones 3–9) cheerfully welcoming spring.

What do you see in your spring garden? Send us some pictures! We’d love to feature you garden and perspective on the GPOD.

 

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To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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Comments

  1. User avater
    treasuresmom 04/22/2019

    I didn't get the email today so I'm glad I came to the site to see if there was a post. Lovely pics of pansies.

  2. User avater
    treasuresmom 04/22/2019

    Forgot to say that Lookout Mt. is a great area. I know you must love it.

  3. cheryl_c 04/22/2019

    Terry, thank you so much for sharing your photos and captions - and welcome to this motley crew of gardeners of kindred spirit! You have brightened our morning with your 'eye' and your humor!

  4. sheila_schultz 04/22/2019

    Terry, you must bring so much joy to the children you work with. You certainly brought a big smile to my face this morning! Welcome to GPOD!

  5. User avater
    simplesue 04/22/2019

    Beautiful flowers and colors, and really cute captions for the Pansies! I will be looking at Pansies a whole different ways since you posted this!

  6. btucker9675 04/22/2019

    Have loved pansies since I was a small child and my maternal grandparents had them running rampant through their garden - especially Johnny Jump Ups. My Gr'pa (Albert M. Fuller) was a doctor of botany and the curator of botany at the Milwaukee Public Museum for many, many years. His garden was a child's delight! Thank you for your lovely photos of the happy pansy faces.

  7. User avater
    meander_michaele 04/22/2019

    Your photos and your commentary are delightful, Terry and certainly show that you fit right in with the GPOD family. I'm a fellow Tennessean (further north in a little town called Friendsville) and I'm wondering if the soil in your area is the same heavy orange clay that weeds seem to love. I share your enthusiasm for creeping phlox and pansies...they definitely sing the song that spring has arrived.

  8. paiya 04/22/2019

    Terry, your pansies and phlox are “sunny” and beautiful. In South Africa, where we grew up, the name in the Afrikaans language for pansies is “gesiggies”, which means “little faces”!
    Gardening IS the best stress reliever.

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