Year of the Pansy

Dan General, Nursery Crops

year pansy
Cathy Isom tells us about the flowers getting special recognition this year and why you’ll want to include them in your own garden. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

Download Year of the Pansy

Each year the National Garden Bureau selects one annual, one perennial, one bulb crop and one edible as their “Year of the” crops.

This years selections are the Pansy; Daffodil; Brassica; and the Rose.

Each is chosen because they are popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse, and versatile. All great reasons to include them in your own garden.

Pansies are a friendly-faced flower! But I bet you didn’t know until the 19th century most people considered them a weed. Today, pansies are a hybrid plant cultivated from those wildflowers in Europe and western Asia.

Daffodils – or narcissus – come from the plant family Amaryllidaceae, meaning all members are poisonous, which is great for gardeners because that makes them critter proof. Daffodil is actually just a nickname.

The Brassica family of plants is one of the most prolific genera of vegetables in the world, including bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, rutabagas and turnips.

And..last but not least, the Rose… The U.S. National Flower first appeared around 35 million years ago and is part of the Rosaceae family which is very important for our food supply (think apples, strawberries, etc…). There are more than 150 species of Roses but only a few are used in today’s gardens.

For more information about the year of flowers and much more check out National Garden Bureau.org.