I Just love them! I have found it hard to find different varieties . Anyone have a good source for seeds or plants?
I would love to do some trading for varieties I dont have.
I have a few varieties and would love to have each and every one LOL I call them happy faces. It just seems like they smile at you when you walk out to see them. Hope I dont sound nuts . well maybe just adicted.
Ladyblues
Anyone collecting viola and violets?
I think so too lady. I just got some seed of this little smiley person and set it immediatly. In a few days they had emerged. can't wait to see the small crowd in spring.
me, too, me, too!
rosie, that is a lovely little creature.
I have "Rebecca," have lost the bird's foot violet. Have a bunch of old seed that I'm going to plant out now and see if anything pops up. Maybe next spring we could do some trading.
That would be great Kathleen since I don't have any spare this year. The seed was an evil price! Only about ten in a packet to.
Fuji Dawn is quite a rarety in my zone and not hardy so I have to keep it it the greenhouse over the winter. Fingers crossed I will get a good supply of seed next year. :-)) Rosie
PS Unlike most viola they prefer dryish sandy soil and full sun.
Oh, dear, then I haven't a chance! Heavy clay soil and the second least sunny place in the US after the Northwest - we get lovely clouds off Lake Erie here. Oh, and snow - 200 + inches a year.
I will be sure to mark my seed plots and we'll hope that some of these come up. I'll post a list later.
I am growing this special person in a pot and overwintering in the greenhouse Kathleen. I dare not risk it outdoors until next spring. We don't get as much snow here as you do but the winters can be bitter and really wet - just like summer this year lol. I have other types of viola too. This pic is of "sweeties" which isn't as exacting as fuji dawn and likes the usual damp conditions in part shade.
Around here, I grow the Antiques Shades pansies and I have heart's ease all over the place. They often cross, not so much this year (although there is still time!) but here is a picture of a few years back.
I love heartsease - it grows wild in the UK but I haven't seen it here in Ireland. I used to grow it when I lived in Wales. I usually prefer the viola with the small faces but I am also growing padparaja - which is supposed to be the worlds deepest orange pansy. It takes its name from a precious sapphire found in Sri Lanka. I grew this a few years ago but moved and couldn't take my plants with me :-(( Rosie
That is certainly, um, ORANGE. lol, I lean more to the paler shades I guess, although my granddaughter would love that one.
I bet she would like the bowles black viola as well - it looks so dramatic planted with the padparaja. I like paler shardes too but I also like to experiment with colour. Sometimes it even works lol
I won't interrupt your conversation for more than a moment. I live in the near tropics and we do have 1 native viola, the typical woodland type. Problem is that you never see the flowers because the plant keeps them hidden under the leaves. Make a nice ground cover.
I have found a new one to try V. hederacea 'Blue Form'. Just got the seeds in the mail, from the UK and now all I have to do is wait until it is cool enough to start them.
PS this is the quietest forum at Dave's.
Not quite any more dale - I'm here lol. Just checked out V. hederacea on wikipedia and it's really beautiful. Bet it won't grow in Ireland though :-(( Rosie
BTW you weren't interrupting :-))
I think this is a very quiet forum too. I put it in my favs when I first joined. I'm glad it's come alive again because I luv violas.
heaven's, no, Dale, the more the merrier!
I have heartsease that has mutated to an almost black form all by itself. Jess does love those as well. Her school colors are maroon and gold and she found a couple of large pansies in those colors earlier this year, but I think the heat we've had off and on has put paid to them.
My granddaughter Nia is a budding gardener too Kathleen - she tells everyone " I'm going to be a florist like my Nanna Rose" LOL. Florist is the last thing I would be - haven't got the patience or the skills but I dare not dishearten her.
perhaps she meant a flowerist
Here's one that just poked its head up today. A little more subdued but I love it.
Hello from Sweden Iove and grow Violas too.
Thanks for sharing hobby - they are lovely.
here is another 'arkie' who ( just discovered the english perennial violas and found out canyon creek nursery no longer carries them) is looking for sources!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dabneyrose, I too was going to order v. odorata from Canyon Creek, but since it has stopped shipping (what a shame!) plants I had to do some searching to find sources. Here's a partial list:
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery, www.sandymushherbs.com, nice selection of native violets, some v. odorata
Bluestone Perennials, www.bluestoneperennials.com, a couple of v. odorata
Sequim Rare Plants, www.sequimrareplants.com, nice selection of perennial violas
Well-Sweep Herb Farm, www.wellsweep.com, great selection of odorata cultivars and native species.
Goodwin Creek Gardens, www.goodwincreekgardens.com, a couple of v. odorata cultivars, species violets.
Annies Annuals, www.anniesannuals.com, lots of annual violas, some perennial violas and species violas.
There are others, like Logee's Greenhouse. If you come across another good source, please let me know!
that's a well reserched list! thank you! I did end up getting a few from Sequim. I've just come in from weeding and thinking the thought; "I wonder if anyone else has mite (?) trouble" my sweet violets get it every year and I wonder if I should be dividing them and throwing out the parent ? are they inbred too much? It does get bone dry here in the summer...I prob shouldn't be growing them but !
thanks again!
Stick the in a shady corner in pots and then plunge them into a bucket of water when they dry out. I'm having to do this at the moment to everything. We're having a heatwave!!!!
:-))
that's interesting! what's an Irish heatwave like? (my husband is Irish) but my plants are in the ground. i hear you tho...keep em moist!