DESCRIPTION: This is a large group of annuals and perennials. They are found wild in the mild Northern regions, South and eastern Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand. These plants belong to the Violet family, Violaceae. Viola contains a wide range of pretty woodland and rock garden plants along with the more developed Bedding Violas, Sweet Violets and Pansies, as they are commonly called. Pansies are descended from the European wild Violas, V. tricolor and V. lutea. Bedding Violas are hybrids between Pansies and Viola cornuta; they are sometimes called tufted Pansies. The Sweet Violets have come from the European wild Sweet Violet, V. odorata. Violas form bushy mounds, 6 to 12 inches high. Their ovate to heart-shaped leaves grow 1 to 2 inches long. Their fragrant flowers are rounded and grow 1 to 4 inches across. Bedding Violas produce flowers in a wide range of colors, from white to pale yellow to dark gold, pale lavender, violet, mauve-purple and rose-lilac, as well as many bicolors. Pansies resemble Bedding Violas, but have larger flowers that are more distinctly marked or blotched to give the appearance of a "face". An interesting trait of many of the wild kinds of Viola, especially the Sweet Violet, is that they produce two different kinds of flowers. One kind is the beautiful flowers for which the plants are grown; these are usually sterile, therefore they produce no seeds. The other flowers are called cleistogamous flowers. These grow after the pretty, fragrant flowers and are inconspicuous, having no petals and growing close to the ground; they are, however, fertile and will produce seeds. Pansies and Bedding Violas usually produce seeds from the ornamental flowers.
POTTING: Bedding Violas and Pansies prefer a cool, moist summer; they won't thrive in hot, dry weather. The soil should be enriched with compost, leaf mold, peat moss or humus and if clayey, some coarse sand. They need little attention in the garden besides keeping the soil moist, but not constantly saturated. An occasional dose of liquid fertilizer throughout the growing season is beneficial. One important thing to do is to pick all the dead flowers off. If this isn't done, energy will be wasted in the production of seeds at the expense of the flowers. Violets can be grown in partial shade. They should have deeply dug soil, which has had an addition of decayed manure. These plants also need moist and cool conditions. If Violets are grown in soil that dries out quickly or in a hot, dry spot, they are likely to be attacked by red spider mites. Bedding Violas, Pansies and Violets can be cultivated in a low greenhouse (so they will be fairly near the glass). Violets do better in beds rather than benches and it is better that it be heated by hot-water pipes rather than steam, which tends to encourage red spider mites. They should be planted in a loamy mixture containing four or five parts topsoil or well-rotted grass sod and one part thoroughly decayed manure. Lime should be added if the soil is acidic and bone meal should be added at half a pound to each bushel of soil. Artificial fertilizers shouldn’t be used with Violets. They need to have cool, well ventilated growing conditions and shade from the strongest sunshine. It is important to provide a clean area, keep weeds down and runners, dead flowers and leaves picked off. Well-rotted manure should be applied to the violet beds in November to encourage strong growth.
PROPAGATION: Start seeds indoors at a 70-degree temperature, 12 to 16 weeks before it's safe to plant them outside. They need constant darkness to sprout after which they are grown in cooler temperatures of 50 to 65 degrees and full sun. They may be sown late summer or early fall where they are to grow and bloom.
VARIETIES: Sweet Violet varieties. Single - Admiral Avelain; Askania; Coeur d'Alsace; La France; Princess of Wales; Royal Robe; Rosina; White Czar. Double - Comte de Brazza; de Parme; Farquhar; Marie Louise; Lady Hume Campbell; Double Russian; Marie Louise.
Violas for rock and woodland gardens - V. alpina (Pansy); V. altaica (Pansy); V. arborescens (Violet); V. arenaria (Violet); V. biflora (Alpina Viola); V. blanda (Violet); V. calcarata (Viola); V. canadensis (Canada Violet); V. cenisia (alpine Violet); V. cornuta (Horned Violet); V. corsica (Viola); V. cucullata; V. delphinantha (Viola); V. elatior; V. elegantula (Viola); V. eizanense; V. gracilis (Viola); V. hederacea (Australian Violet); V. Jooi; V. lutea; V. odorata (Wild Sweet Violet); V. papilionacea (Meadow Violet); V. pedata (Bird's foot Violet); V. Priceana (Confederate Violet); V. pubescens (Downy Yellow Violet); V. rothomagensis (hispida) (Rouen Violet); V. septentrionalis (Violet); V. tricolor (Johnny-Jump-Up, Heartsease, or Wild Pansy); V. valderia.