Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

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Alan_L
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Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

Post by Alan_L »

Does anybody grow these? My lawn is full of common blue violet (Viola papilionacea) and I thought it would be nice to introduce a fragrant variety too. I'm looking for plants, as the seed is apparently difficult to germinate, or must be sown in the fall.
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foxd
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Re: Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

Post by foxd »

I've noticed that some of the violets growing in the yard are white. Is this common?
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Alan_L
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Re: Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

Post by Alan_L »

Yes. There are purple ones ("violet" I guess), white ones, and some that are white with violet. Some are lighter violet too.

But I assume you're talking about the weedy ones that aren't fragrant, right?
GrowingHabit
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Re: Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

Post by GrowingHabit »

I have been working for 8, 9 years to get odorata spread about our garden, and blooming enough to collect 2 packed cups of flowers, for violet jam. Which, by the way, is out of this world. I've only collected enough blooms for a batch twice in my life, by haunting... well, old and dilapidated... places. Wow is that jam delicious. But you have to have a very odorific variety to start with, or its a pointless endeavor.

I dug a small patch of odorata violets from a friend's house, when she was about to move out. The patch didn't take, and the house was sold, and I thought I'd lost them forever. They are hard to come by. But, about a year after they had died off, up pops this good sized patch, and lo and behold, it hangs on and starts thriving. And over the following years, I became ever less careful about babying it, and just grab up whatever of it I want to move, and plunk it in the ground, any time of year, and it starts growing. I think I have enough this year on my own property to make jam. Maybe a half batch. But by this time, I'm not even sure where the recipe is. :roll:
Alan_L
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Re: Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)

Post by Alan_L »

Dan: this page has several photos on the right side, one of them is a row of picked violet flowers showing the range of colors:

http://www.msuturfweeds.net/details/_/wild_violet_17/

Pretty cool!
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