The sweet violet enchants with its delicate flowers and fragrant scent. Read everything you need to know about variety selection, location and sowing.
The sweet violet (Viola odorata) is an easy-care fragrant perennial that is particularly easy to plant under trees and shrubs. We present the scented violet in the profile and give tips on cultivation, care and healing effects.
Sweet violets: heyday, origin and properties
Sweet violets belong to the violet family (Violaceae) and are close relatives of horned violets (Viola cornuta) and pansies (Viola x wittrockiana). The sweet violet is also known as March violet or fragrant violet and was already used in ancient times as a fragrant and medicinal plant or incense herb in honor of various deities. The sweet violet found its way to Central Europe in the early Middle Ages at the latest. The sweet violet is originally distributed in the Mediterranean region, the Caucasus and as far as Iran.
Scented violets are hardy, evergreen perennials that reach a height of 10 - 25 cm. Thickened rhizomes develop underground, which enable the violet to hibernate. The leaves of the sweet violet sit together in a basal rosette. They are broadly rounded, ovate or kidney-shaped and stalked, the leaf margin is slightly notched.
Depending on the variety, the sweet violet blooms from February to May. Some varieties, such as the sweet violet 'Queen Charlotte', even flower a second time in August. The fragrant flowers are on leafless stalks, can be white, yellow, pink or blue-purple in color and have five petals. They already provide nectar and some pollen for the first bees and other pollinating insects during the still cold spring months.
After pollination, the roundish, brown seeds of sweet violets develop into round, three-part capsules that burst open when ripe. Sweet violets have seeds with a nutritious appendage called the elaiosomeprovided, which attracts ants to spread. They drag the seed into their burrow and feed on the packaging. The seed inside is considered waste and is dumped outside of the anthill in some sort of landfill. The sweet violet finds a place here that is protected from plant pests as well as nutrient-rich, finely crumbly soil and thus optimal conditions for germination.
The most beautiful Viola odorata varieties
Sweet violets differ not only in the color of the flowers, but also in the growth rate, flowering time and intensity of the sweet scent. We present the most beautiful sweet violet varieties.
- 'Alba': White sweet violet with a delicate scent. The flowers of the 10 - 15 cm high variety appear between March and May.
- 'Coeur d'Alsace': Very vigorous violet variety with pink, graceful flowers on plants up to 15 cm high. The flowering period is between March and May.
- 'Diana Groves': Sweet violet with a rare, raspberry red color up to 10 cm tall. The flowering period is between April and May.
- 'Donau': Sweet violet with extraordinarily large, blue-violet flowers on long stems and a strong fragrance. The robust and vigorous variety grows to a height of 10 - 15 cm and flowers between March and May.
- 'Queen Charlotte': Sweet violet with a strong fragrance and double flowering in spring and late summer. The Viola odorata 'Königin Charlotte' develops deep violet flowers on plants up to 15 cm high.
- 'Madame Armandine Pages': Old French variety from around 1900 with large, long-stalked flowers in whitish soft pink. The flowering period is between March and April.
- 'Melanie': Sweet pink violet with large flowers between March and April. The fragrant variety reaches a height of 15 - 20 cm.
- 'Orchid Pink': Very early flowering variety from February to March with large flowers of pale red-violet with violet veining towards the middle. It can reach a height of 20 - 25 cm.
- 'Princesse de Galle': Slightly scented sweet violet hybrid with dark violet, very large, wide open flowers between March and April. The variety is vigorous and up to 15 cm high.
- 'Reine de Neiges': Ice Blueblooming sweet violet, which was selected from the 'Queen Charlotte' variety. The strong-growing and he althy variety seeds well and, like the mother variety, flowers twice a year.
- 'Sulphurea': Sweet violet variety with rather weak growth and filigree, orange-yellow to sulphur-yellow flowers with violet tips. Flowering occurs between March and May.
- ‘Wismar‘: Historical violet seedling from Wismar around 1895 with white-pink and violet flowers. Slightly overgrown, light-colored variety up to 15 cm in height and a flowering period from March to May.
Sowing sweet violets: location and procedure
The ideal location for sweet violets is in light shade, semi-shade or full sun in cool, damp conditions. The soil should be loamy, nutrient-rich and fresh without waterlogging. Sweet violets do not tolerate heat and drought well. However, it is perfect as an underplant under vigorous and shady shrubs such as roses (Rosa), shrub peonies (Paeonia) or hedges as loose, overgrown, self-seeding meadow of violets.
Sweet violets can be propagated and planted out as perennials or seeds. The undemanding scented perennials can be bought in many nurseries. Cultivation from seeds of the Viola odorata, on the other hand, is much more complex. If you want to sow sweet violets, you should note that they are cold germs. They need a longer period of cold to germinate, as is naturally the case in winter. Sweet violets are sown between September and March. The seeds are sown about 0.5 cm deep in nutrient-poor growing substrate, such as our Plantura organic herb and seed compost, and moistened. This is followed by cold treatment for four to six weeks at temperatures of -4 to +4 °C. The seed containers can be placed in the fridge or simply outside in winter. In spring, the violets germinate when temperatures rise from 5 - 10 °C. The seeds should not be warmer when grown indoors. After a few weeks, the sweet violets can be planted out.
Due to their low growth height and low maintenance requirements, sweet violets are popular plants for balconies and patios. Good water drainage is important, since violets are generally very sensitive to waterlogging. OneGround-covering drainage layer in the planter, consisting of gravel, sand or expanded clay, prevents water from accumulating even in heavy rain. A nutrient-rich potting soil such as our Plantura organic potting soil is ideal for planting. The nutrient composition of the peat-free substrate is particularly tailored to the needs of flowering plants and provides them with nutrients for the first time after planting. The high compost content stores moisture and releases it to the plant roots when needed.
Sweet violets are often planted out in small groups of three to ten specimens. You can count on around 16 plants per square meter if you want a richly flowering underplanting. Since most varieties self-seed profusely, the stock in suitable locations will naturally become denser over time. Mature perennials are often at least as wide as they are tall. A planting distance of 20 cm should therefore be maintained in the bed. Use a hand shovel to plant the sweet violets in the soil, but no deeper than they were in the pot. After planting, it should be watered vigorously.
The right care
Sweet violets are easy to care for if they are in the right location. In hot, dry periods, the violets should be watered regularly when the soil threatens to dry out. A layer of mulch reduces evaporation and keeps the soil surface moist and cool, which sweet violets particularly like. Fertilization is usually not necessary. In the spring, some mature compost or a predominantly organic long-term fertilizer such as our Plantura organic flower fertilizer can be worked into the surface around the plants on poor soil. With sweet violets as underplanting, both the trees above and the violets are supplied with fertilization. However, be careful not to damage any roots or rhizomes.
Are sweet violets hardy? Sweet violets are hardy down to -20 °C and tolerate severe frosts outdoors without any problems.
Are sweet violets edible or poisonous?
Sweet violets are edible, its blossoms are used to make blossom sugar or s alt, herb butter or as a candied or raw decoration on desserts. The roots or leaves of sweet violets are not poisonous either. An aromatic oil is obtained from the flowers, which is used in cosmetics and perfumes. The healing properties of Viola odorataIt is used in cough teas and for washing skin ailments. In homeopathy, violets are used for respiratory diseases and rheumatism of the wrists.
The cyclamen is only related by name (Cyclamen), but it is just as suitable for planting under trees. We present the primrose plant (Primulaceae) and give tips on growing it in the house and garden.