In Georgia, March is the month of blooming dogwoods and azaleas, but here in Utah and other not-s0-warm states, it is the month of brown and gray. Brown lawns, hills, mountains, dirt. Gray clouds, skies, and moods.

Gone is the white snow that creates a pristine landscape – except for those days where Old Man Winter blows in for a minute to remind us that spring’s arrival is delayed again. A few hearty crocus and daffodils dare show their colors to challenge snow-mixed-with-rain and bipolar temperatures, but most tulips are just sticking out their toes before taking the leap.

And then there are the pansies – those darlings that shiver and shake through November, December, January, and February to show the world that winter can be survived and spring will come again.

While I planted 90 tulip bulbs last fall, I didn’t put any pansies into the ground, and I missed their little promising faces peeking up through snow and dirt throughout those winter months.

Tulips are great and all, but their dormancy tests a gardener’s faith – will they truly show up, and how many will decide to keep sleeping? (Right now 62 of the 90 have broken through. What happened to the other 38??? Did I plant them too deep? Did I plant them upside-down? Is that possible?)

Today, G.E. brought me flowers for anniversary number 42!!! But he also bought AND planted pansies to fill up that vacant spot of garden dreariness. Which brings me to the brightest spot in March – the day I married the man I love!