Why are pansies associated with unmanliness and deviation from heteronormativity?  They are some of the hardiest flowers there are.  When I took this picture the temperature in Washington D.C. had risen to a high of 34F (1C) and they have been blooming for some time, as opposed to the cherry blossoms, which have not shown up yet. They and daffodils in fact dare to appear during what is really the last stage of winter, before spring really breaks out.  See my post from last year on “Daffodil season” in Michigan, which is also pansy season, and is, it seems, about a month later in southern Michigan than here in the Capital.