When I was a little girl, I remember my aunt making a lemon cake for my grandmother. It was decorated in sugared violets and was the softest my delectable dessert I’ve ever had. Year after year when my grandmother’s April birthday came around she requested that cake with sugared violets.
I would go out back in the empty lot behind my house and pick them from the field and chew on their purple petals.
While I knew about the edibility of the violet growing up, it wasn’t until I was in my 20’s that I learned how important they are in my local ecosystem. The common violet and similar varieties are absolutely not weeds in your yard.
The common blue violet or Viola sororia, is a low growing perennial native to much of the eastern region of the United States. It gets such a bad rap as a unsightly lawn weed. But I can’t imagine spraying or digging out a beautiful flower that has evolved to grow and bloom here in my yard.
It’s not just the beauty that prompts me to keep it around, it serves an important purpose in my local ecosystem. It’s the host plant for the Great Spangled Fritillary.
The fritillary is like the cousin to a butterfly. This fritillary lays its eggs exclusively on these little plants because they are one of the only foods their caterpillars will eat. When you yank this plant or spray it, you are taking food away from little baby fritillary caterpillars!
If you don’t want it in your lawn, consider digging it up and moving it to your garden where it can bloom and thrive. It makes an amazing ground cover.
Let’s talk about how to identify a violet
Look for violet colored flower with two upper petals and three lower petals. Inside is a light lavender with furry white hairs at the base. You will mostly finding them in shady spot but they can tolerate some amount of full sun. The leaves of the violet resemble the shape of a heart
One of the best parts of the violet is its seed dispersal system. It has little hidden flowers that contain round little seeds. When these flower heads ripen the seed heads pop up so the seeds can be spread. They kind of resemble little demi-gorgons. You can easily cut off a seed head and place in an area out of the sun to dry and save the seeds for planting. You can also just take the seeds and spread as you find them on the seed heads.
I love this blog and the accompanying resources. It has a great illustration showing the parts of a violet.
Ask an Expert! Vibrant Violets - Hoyt Arboretum
I hope next time you see this plant in your yard you’ll consider moving it out of your garden so it can thrive. Next up on the blog, recipes for the edible Viola sororia!
~Anna
