The Humble Violet

💜 When I moved into Leaf Retreat I was blessed with lovely patches of violets, belonging to the Violaceae family. The low-growing perennial blossoms from March to April, creating a delicate lilac carpet beneath the conifers each year.

💜 I have two varieties in the garden, Early Dog Violet (V. reichenbachiana) and Common Dog Violet (V. riviniana). The name 'dog' in a plant's common name often means 'inferior'. While Viola odorata may be revered for its fragrance (hence odorata) and medicinal qualities, their cousins have a valuable place in the ecosystem. The heart-shaped leaves of the Dog Violet provide a home for the fritillary butterfly on which to lay her eggs.

💜 The key identifier lies in the spur of the flower. V. reichenbachiana has a purple spur as in the picture below. The spur is the part to the left. V. riviniana has a paler coloured spur, as well as flowering a little later. Learning to tell these beautiful flowers apart is a wonderful way to connect more deeply with nature - calmness is found in the detail.

💜 Last year I added some Viola odorata plants to my small patch of woodland in the hope to one day use the leaves and flowers for medicine. Like all Violas, they have the cutest cordate leaves (heart-shaped), around 3-5cm in size. The purple flowers are darker in colour and around 1-2cm. Flowering in autumn too, the nodding flowers hold the iconic fragrance, hence odorata. Palma violets anyone?

💜 This cold-hardy plant thrives in well-drained soil and prefers partial shade, mimicking its natural woodland habitat and flowering before the canopy appears. Given the shadier parts of our garden are often hard to fill, violas are great at self-seeding so you can look forward to additional blooms over the years.

 💜 It grows on delicate runners (stolons) and is easy to remove, not that you would want to! That said, I did a quick internet search on 'viola'. My expectations of perfume, cakes and herbal uses, sadly marred by the top ranking page, Round Up Pesticides, and how to remove violets from your lawn. Doesn’t the world sometimes seem upside down? I can only dream of a bouncy moss-filled violet lawn! It is so sad to think anyone would want to remove a breeding ground for pollinators or a useful little plant (see Viola Odorata under the Herbalism tab to find out more!)