Garden Club presents | History and cultural legacy of pansies and violas

Join us at 9:30 AM (just before the program) for social time, and feel free to bring something for the Sharing Table

||| FROM ORCAS ISLAND GARDEN CLUB |||

Please join the Orcas Island Garden Club on Wednesday, April 15 when we welcome Brenna Estrada of Three Brothers Blooms to speak about the History and Cultural Legacy of Pansies and Violas followed by a book signing for her book, “Pansies: How to Grow, Reimagine, and Create Beauty with Pansies and Violas” (Timber Press, March 2025).

The presentation will also be available via Zoom. For a link to the live Zoom presentation, please visit the Orcas Island Garden Club Events and click the link below the list of presentations. Please note, this presentation will not be recorded. Garden Club presentations are free and open to the public.

Estrada’s work champions the pansy’s potential beyond traditional landscaping, reconnecting gardeners with the flower’s historical varieties and creative uses. She encourages experimentation, observation, and appreciation for the diversity of colors, shapes, and fragrances found in pansies.

For more insights, you can explore her website or follow her on Instagram, and the book Pansies is available through major bookstores or directly from Timber Press. You can even find it at Darvill’s in town!

Topics for discussion:

• • The history and cultural legacy of pansies and violas
  • Step-by-step growing instructions, including seed starting, transplanting, spacing, and overwintering techniques
  • Advice for producing long stems suitable for cut flowers and bouquets
  • Profiles of 50 unique varieties, highlighting colors, fragrance, and suitability as cut flowers
  • Tips for propagation, seed saving, craft, culinary, and apothecary uses 
  • Growing Pansies According to Estrada
  • Sun and Root Care: For best blooms and colors, pansies should get at least 6–8 hours of sun while maintaining cool, moist roots
  • Spacing and Deadheading: Plant 2–4 inches apart for trailing growth, and deadhead buds during the first year to promote root establishment
  • Seed Starting: Estrada starts seeds indoors on trays with controlled humidity and temperatures, later hardening off seedlings in unheated greenhouses
  • Varieties: She emphasizes overlooked and heirloom varieties, aiming to make rare hybrid pansy seeds more available to home gardeners

Did you know? Estrada offers hands-on workshops, such as A Day of Pansies in Snohomish, WA, teaching participants to grow seeds, care for pansies, and create floral or paper art while providing seedlings and signed books.