Viola (Horned Violet, Tufted Pansy)
Viola cornuta. VIOLACEAE.
Planting and Growing Viola
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow viola in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- Flowers, foliage, and root structure of viola
- Plant hardiness and growing conditions for viola
- Season of bloom and planting time for viola
- When, how deep, and where to plant viola
- How to plant viola
- Watering, fertilizing, care, and pests or diseases of viola
- Landscape and container uses of viola
- Comments about viola and its features
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Growing Viola
Several cultivars of short-lived, mounding perennial herbs, to 1 ft. (30 cm) tall. Shiny, medium green, oval leaves, to 1 in. (25 mm) long, with scalloped edges.
Common cultivars include Viola cornuta ‘Bluebird’, ‘Columbine’, ‘Cuty’, ‘Sorbet’, ‘Whiskers’, and ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow’.
Planting and Care Guide
Blooms
Many purple, white, multicolored, pansylike, spurred flowers, to 1‑1/2‑in. (38‑mm) wide, in late spring–autumn.
Best Climates
Plant as tender annual, zones 2–5; ground hardy, zones 3–9.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained loam. Fertility: Rich–average. 6.5–7.5 pH.
Where and How to Plant
Late spring in full sun to partial shade, 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) apart, after soil warms. Start seed indoors 10–12 weeks before final frost for early blooms; transplant after frost hazard has passed.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize every 2 months. Deadhead spent flowers to prolong bloom. Propagate by division, seed.
About This Plant
Good choice for hanging baskets, beds, borders, containers, edgings in cottage, formal, rock, shade, woodland gardens. Good for cutting, companion to follow spring bulbs. Slug, snail, violet sawfly larva and anthracnose susceptible.