My grandmother loved violets. Out of her 19 grandchildren, I was the only one born in February and she always made violets the theme for my birthday gifts. They were mostly odds and ends of china with violet patterns that she gave me from what she had laying about her house. I cherish those gifts from my childhood and still have them today, and violets whether in china patterns or in the gardens are dear to me. Violets do well in my shady woodland. In addition to the sweet violet that dave mentioned in the article, other favorites that I have in my gardens include striped cream violet (viola striata) which has white flowers, palmate violet (viola palmata) which I love for its trilobed leaves, and bird's foot violet (viola pedata) which I also love for its unusual leaves.
I have many other violets, but a real gem that I've recently added to my growing violet collection is Appalachian Blue violet (viola walterii 'Silver Gem').
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Can you tell I love violets as much or more than my grandmother did
