Gardening surprises
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Flowers | 11 comments
Photo: Violets
I concentrated on the herbaceous borders all weekend and stayed outside this evening until I couldn’t distinguish weeds from plants. Quite a few plants had been knocked out by the hard winter, which is always sad.
As usual giant buttercups, dandelions and nettles are thriving. But at this stage in the year they are easy to remove. I moved in to the cottage seventeen years ago this April. Easter was early and my mother and I spent the long weekend weeding the existing beds. They were packed with buttercups that were so hard to remove that in the end we tackled them with knives.
Early this evening I noticed something that I didn’t know was flourishing in the garden. At the bottom of the yew hedge beside the pond garden I discovered three little mounds of violets, which I’m sure that I didn’t plant. They were certainly not there when I set the hedge.
I love violets but have not had much success with them. Clearly they love a dry and shady spot. I don’t know how these violets got into the garden but I was thrilled to find them.
However much you try and control a garden there is always an almost magical element of surprise. The birds and wind spread seeds. Last year I noticed that some thoughtful mice had buried wild cherry plum kernels and we now have a few saplings beside the compost heap.
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The purple leaved violets are Viola labodorica purpurea and in this form have a rich purple leaf and a mid purple flower. They come true from seed and presumably from Labradore in Canada- certainly they are tough.
I also have hundreds of dog violets that crossed with the seed-raised Viola odorata “Govenor Herrick” that I planted mistakenly thinking that they would be scented, about 35 years ago. I ended up taking out all the pale dog violet coloured ones and now have the remainder as useful ground cover in my dry shade garden with large deep purple flowers. I cannot get the scented violets to grow here though but will probably have yet another go this year. The scented ones form clumps that root as they go as well as producing seed at the end of their flowering period
Hi Domestic Executive,
This was basically a field with a few 2 foot borders and a small pond when I moved in.
But it had been a garden and smallholding ten years before so I didn’t have decades of weeds to tackle.
Our lawn is as bumpy as a stormy sea. This used to upset me as I fancied manicured lawns. Now I have grown to love the independence of our garden with its rolling lawns.
Our garden is created from a farmers field. With it comes a multitude of strange plants, weeds and massive of stubborn grasses. I know it’s going to be impossible to have a pristine garden so I’ve given up trying already!
Having said that, I do draw a line at gorse growing saplings grown in the front garden though so whip them out before they take over as they have with much of our native bush.
Hello Rose
What a lovely comment about your parents’ oak tree!
We have evening primroses on and off too and quite a few laburnum seedlings.
Hi Marigold
They grow in unusual places in the UK too. I know that they are edible (the flowers) as the sugared flowers are on top of violet creams. But having only just discovered ours I haven’t sampled them yet.
Hello Carol
The one existing violet specimen in the garden that I planted is a purple leaved variety. Icelandic violet does ring a bell with me but perhaps I’m thinking about the poppies.
Hello Betty
Thank you for leaving such a positive message.
Great that you are enjoying the site!
Hi Toffeeapple
Thanks for the warning. I planted a lot of yew hedging years ago so they have loads of space under these before they venture out into the garden, hopefully.
Thanks for the tip about putting the flowers in salad. I’ll try that this week.
Hi Casalba
That is weird! So many links.
Even odder than our past crossed lives, is that here too I saw 3 wild violet plants under an elm tree. I swear they weren’t there last year.
Do keep an eye on the violets, they have completely taken over my garden, they are real thugs, so make sure they don’t spread too far. The advantage is that the flowers are edible and they do look pretty in a salad.
What a lovely site you have; I stumbled across it whilst looking for a pear jam recipe (which I will try to make this evening)
I am living in France, and it is lovely to have a window into the country that I left behind…
I have a very good friend out here who grows her own fruit, has just started her own vegetable patch and is looking to add some animals (chickens to start with I think, but she does seem rather tempted by a couple of piggies)
So I have passed on your address to inspire her!
Wishing you happy gardening, cooking and writing
Here in Cornwall we have violets growing in the hedgerows down our lane so we also get them in the garden. My next door neighbour has introduced a variety with a slightly purple tinged leaf which she got from a friend near Truro – we think they may be called Icelandic violets but not sure. Ours do grow in dry shade but also in damp shade as well as almost anywhere else – most of the tubs have there fair share.
Hi. I saw some of these for the first time today as I walked to the corner store. They were growing in a crack in the sidewalk. Now I wonder, were they there before or has The Cottage Smallholder opened my eyes to them? Thanks! My walks are even more interesting now. Do you have a recipe for violets??
I noticed this to growing up as my parents had a large garden. We acquired some evening primrose at one point but even more beautiful is the oak tree at the back of the garden. I feel as if I have been watching it grow most of my life.