Violets' Secrets

Violets are probably one of the best known of our native wildflowers.  Even though they are so well known, they still have their secrets!  I'm going to reveal some of these to you now....  

Violets are sweet little flowers, aren’t they?  Well, actually most of them aren’t --sweetly-fragranced, that is.  They may be “sweet” as in being “pleasing or delightful”, but only a few kinds of them have sweet-smelling flowers!  (Secret number one!) 

One Violet that actually does have fragrant flowers are these aptly named Sweet White Violets.

My 'Peterson’s Guide to Wildflowers' says there are 52 species in the Viola family in Northeastern and North Central America.  A booklet I have from Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve says, “Of the 100 species of Violets found in the US, 38 are native to Pennsylvania”.  That’s a lot of kinds of Violets!  Plus... they can hybridize or crossbreed between two different species or varieties.  (Secret number two!)

This "Confederate Violet" is a color-form/hybrid of Viola sororia. The common name comes from the color of the Confederate Army uniforms during the Civil War.  Quite a few years ago, one of my older brothers brought home from kindergarten a Mother's Day gift of a Confederate Violet plant in a paper cup.  From this one plant, they spread quickly in my Mother's garden.  I remember picking bouquets of them for her when I was a little girl.  Descendants of her plant from the paper cup now populate my garden and lawn!

They have spread to form a lovely patch under my kitchen deck where they seem to enjoy the moist shade.

They are spreading into the fern and hosta bed nearby.

Ruby says that the flowers and leaves of Violets are edible, but she prefers dog biscuits, if anyone is interested.

Another interesting Violet hybrid grows in the midst of my big patch of Confederate Violets.  It's called "Freckles".  You can see why in this photo:

From one plant that my sister-in-law gave me a few years ago, there are now several.   

Here's another pretty violet.... a Round-leafed Yellow Violet.  Botanists weren't too creative with Violet names, were they?

 In the next photo, you can see how much the Round-leafed Yellow Violet's leaves look like African Violet leaves.  But, did you know that African Violets are not really Violets?  They aren't in the Viola family, they are Saintpaulias.

Here are some Common Blue Violets... though frankly, shouldn't they have a nicer name than that?!

Every year at Violet-blooming time, I enjoy picking a bouquet for myself.  Even though I have lots of Violets outside right under my kitchen deck, I like to have some on my windowsill, too.

I guess I'm still a little girl at heart because I love stepping out into the garden and taking time to pick a bunch of their tiny stems, then throwing them together in a vase.  You don't arrange Violets... you just put them in a vase and they look beautiful.

Now, finally, here is the the biggest secret of the Violet family -- besides these lovely flowers, they produce hidden flowers!  Yep, the sweet-looking little violets have flowers that you may not ever have seen.  They are called cleistogamous flowers and they are produced under the ground or close to the surface under their foliage!  (Secret number three!)  Here’s an interesting link that has some great photos of these unique flowers.  The cleistogamous flowers don't open, aren't colorful, and fertilize themselves.  The seeds are already in the ground, ready to grow!  Pretty amazing, huh?
That's the end of "Violets' Secrets"... now they aren't secret anymore.