March/April 2000

Notes From River Farm
 

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue 
by Janet Walker

We are beginning a violet collection at River Farm. England has several such collections, but this will be the first that we know of in the United States. Highly popular in Victorian times, violets seem to be making a comeback. 

There is a small but active American Violet Society and to date there have been five International Violet Conferences; the last one was held in February 1999 in France. 

These meetings focus on all things to do with violets-from artwork to perfumes and recipes and, of course, plants. When my friend Pippa Fog, an officer in the American Violet Society, approached me about curating a violet collection, I was initially lukewarm to the idea. 

My experience with violets had been one of bemused annoyance since, like weeds, they always seemed to grow where they were not wanted. Now that I've come to know more about them-and have at my disposal a range of shade and semi-shade conditions where most thrive-I've taken another look. 

Furthermore, I finally learned how to smell violets, which immediately put them on my list of "must-have" plants. Sweet violet (Viola odorata) has been cultivated throughout recorded history both for medicinal purposes and for its fragrance, but the aroma, oddly, is fleeting-it temporarily dulls the olfactory nerve. 

To properly smell a violet, cup three or four flowers in your hand and breathe deeply very close to the flowers. You will probably get only two or three more whiffs before you lose your sense of smell. 

Perhaps it is this elusiveness that makes us want to come back for more. Since space at River Farm is limited, we will be looking for the best landscape violets, as well as selections that convey the fascinating history of this genus. Napoleon, for instance, adopted violets as his emblem, promising to return from his exile "when the violets bloom." 

Essential oil distilled from violet leaves is an important ingredient in women's perfumes such as Charlie Red and Tiffany, and in Grey Flannel for men. Violet flowers are high in vitamins A and C and safe to eat, so throwing them into our salads may have an added benefit beyond beauty. 

They also contain large amounts of the compound rutin, which is showing promise as a treatment for varicose veins. We will begin our collection with about 30 selections-a combination of native and exotic species and cultivars. 

We want to try the natives in our woodland, use some well-behaved cultivars for edging, experiment with others as ground covers, and test them as companion plants. Since violets hybridize readily, they must be separated from one another. Among the selections we want to try are V. sororia 'Freckles', the petals of which are white with lavender dots; V. tricolor 'Molly Sanderson', which has truly black flowers; the tender, very fragrant, double-flowered Parma violets; the bird's-foot violet (V. pedata); and Canadian violet (V. canadensis). I'm already very happy with purple-leaved violet that is sold in the trade as V. labradorica, which I'm growing at home as a ground cover. 

There has been a recent revival of interest in this group of plants and their rich history, and we're looking forward to first-hand involvement. We'll keep you posted on what we learn. m