Pat Bean's blog

Purple Passion: St. Louis Botanical Gardens -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pansies

 “…You praise the ones that grow today
  Here in the garden; had you seen the place
    When Sutherland was living!
       Here they grew,
        From blue to deeper blue, in midst of each
          A golden dazzle like a glimmering star,
            Each broader, bigger than a silver crown;
              While here the weaver sat, his labor done,
                Watching his azure pets and rearing them,
                  Until they seem’d to know his step and touch,
                    And stir beneath his smile like living things:
                      The very sunshine loved them, and would lie
                        Here happy, coming early, lingering late,
                          Because they were so fair.”
      – Robert Williams Buchanan