I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with violets – once they get a foothold in a flower bed they can produce impenetrable quantities of leaf and almost no flower, and are actually quite troublesome to remove, others fare better in less fertile conditions where they produce more flowers.
Viola Alice, as I call her, is a cut above the rest with large, richly dark purple flowers appearing from late winter into spring. It is a vigorous evergreen perennial with heart-shaped, gently scalloped leaves and it thrives in full sun or part shade. Said to be reliably well scented, I lay down flat on the damp grass this afternoon, to check out this assertion (only afterwards did I think it might have been easier to pick a few stems) to find that it’s not my favourite fragrance. Both flowers and leaves are used to make the precious oil which is primarily used in skincare.
This beautiful violet was a chance seedling found in the French
NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 and is for sale in our online shop here.
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