PANSIES

Think you know this classic bedding plant? Start exploring the dramatic range of pansies you can grow from seed and you'll discover the flower is full of surprises.

- MIRANDA CROWELL

Contrary to popular belief, many pansy varieties have stems long enough for arrangements, like this one from Brenna Estrada's new book, Pansies (Timber Press). The flowers have a long vase life, lasting up to a few weeks.

If there's any flower that's been unfairly typecast in recent decades, it's the pansy. "People think of it as this short, cool-season filler flower and not much else," says grower Brenna Estrada. But several years ago, she had a revelation: "This isn't how the pansy has to be." After discovering some intriguing varieties while working at Floret flower farm, she went on to trial hundreds of others at her own Washington farm, Three Brothers Blooms. "Pansies have so much personality, with all kinds of streaks, ruffles, and incredible colors," she says. And they're not all squat annuals: Estrada notes that many grow tall enough to use as cut flowers, and that pansies can thrive as perennials in Zones 7-9. Here, she shares her top pansy-growing tips.