A lovely viola for your cottage or medicinal garden. Viola arvensis is a tiny plant (just 3 to 4 inches) that will compliment your larger pansies and poppies quite nicely. It is a hardy, low-maintenance flower that will bloom from early summer to late summer.
It is interesting to note that this tiny wildflower has very high levels of the antioxidant resveratrol. Resveratrol is well-known for its many health promoting effects including anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects (Weiskirchen and Weiskirchen 2016).
In fact, the levels of resveratrol in Viola arvensis (5,708.05 μg/g) are off the charts compared to another well known source of resveratrol– red wine — for comparison, Merlot has 5.5 μg/g to 7.8 μg/g and Cabernet Sauvignon has 1.5 μg/g to 2.7 μg/g. (From the papers, Edible Flowers – Antioxidant activity and impact on cell viability, and Plant Foods and Herbal Sources of Resveratrol).
Although eating Viola arvensis (or drinking red wine) will not give you therapeutic doses of resveratrol, you are doing your body good when you include Viola arvensis in your diet. Try the flowers and leaves in salads, sandwiches, potato salads and desserts – they have a lovely, mild wintergreen flavour.
A bit more:
Another intriguing fact about Viola arvensis – it has very long-lived seed. In a paper published in the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, Doohan and Monaco (1992) report that (exhumed/dug up) Viola arvensis seeds that were confirmed to be 300 and 400 years old were found to be viable and germinated! I am not sure what that means in terms of plant properties or human health, but those are some pretty good genetics.
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.
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.
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Location: Sun, Partial sun – viola does best in a semi-shady spot.
Life cycle: Annual
Usable Parts: Flowers, Leaves (dried, fresh)
Uses: Tea, Salad, Tincture
Height: 3 to 4 inches
