A beautiful burst of purple for your cottage or fairy garden. This diminutive flower is hardy and low-maintenance. We like how Viola cornuta is described in the 1959 Geo. W Park Seed Catalogue:
“Companion plants to Pansies, though flowers are not as large. Admirably adapted for rockery, beds and borders as the colors are bright and attractive, plants are sturdy and free blooming, thriving in partial shade with no enemies.”
Not only is Viola cornuta a beautiful flower for your garden it is also an edible flower that is a good source of polyphenols (Moliner et al 2019) and shows high antioxidant activity (Demasi et al 2020). Try the flowers and leaves in salads and desserts – they have a mild wintergreen flavour.
For more information on edible flowers check out our story, “Edible Ornamental Flowers and Antioxidants” in the magazine, Canada’s Local Gardener (Summer 2024). You can read the digital version HERE.
And see our Musing for information about the health benefits of Edible Flowers.
Learning how to grow violas from seed is a wonderful skill to have — and the reward is being surrounded by violas all summer! Many violas are perennials, so once you plant them they will stick around for a few years. And even if they are not perennials, many will reseed themselves and stick around that way. And despite their delicate looking appearance, they are very hardy and almost need no care.
How to Plant: (1) Outdoors: You can sow seeds directly outdoors in early spring. Press seeds into the soil, cover lightly with soil and keep moist. It helps to put a light cover (see below) over the germinating seeds. The viola seeds will know what to do!
(2) Indoors: To get a jump start on the season you can sow seeds indoors. Ease of Germination: Moderate. Here is how we start violas indoors:
1. We start violas indoors 4-8 weeks before the last frost. We use 6 cell seed starting trays (each cell is about 2.5″ x 3″) and fill each with seed starting soil. We moisten the soil before we put it in the cells — simply by putting it in a bowl and pouring in water until we get a ‘moist’ (not dripping wet) soil.
2. Press seeds into the soil and cover lightly with soil. We put 2-3 seeds per cell.
3. We cover the cells with newspaper, black plastic or aluminum foil. In general, viola seeds need darkness to germinate.
4. Keep soil moist while seeds are germinating. Viola seeds usually germinate in 1-2 weeks.
5. No need for a heat mat. Viola seeds do best germinating in cooler soil.
6. Once violas are up (or most of them), remove covering and place in a sunny window or under lights.
Feel free to email us if you have questions.
__________________
Location: Sun, Partial sun — viola does best in a semi-shady spot.
Life cycle: Annual (or Perennial in Zones 6+ — although they are perennial in our zone 4 garden)
Usable Parts: Flowers, Leaves (dried, fresh)
Uses: Salad, Dessert
Height: 3 to 4 inches
