Violets on a spring day

by YankeeJim | April 19, 2011 at 10:52 am

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Walking in the woods on a warm spring day, I noticed the violets are in bloom everywhere I turn. At Easter time of year, my grandmother’s violets bloomed in her flower pot in the window of the dining room. They were on a stand accompanied by ferns and violet fragrance enveloped the area. They were the African variety.

In the woods, I see both violet and yellow flowers and wonder how this came to be.

“Viola (most commonly pronounced /vaɪˈoʊlə/ in the US and /ˈvaɪələ/ in the UK[1]) is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with around 400–500 species distributed around the world. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere; however, viola species (commonly called violets, pansies or heartsease) are also found in widely divergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes in South America.

Most Viola species are tiny perennial plants, some are annual plants, and a few are small shrubs. A number of species are grown for their ornamental flowers in borders and rock gardens; the garden pansy in particular is an extensively used spring and autumn/winter bedding and pot plant. Viola and violetta are terms used by gardeners and generally in horticulture for neat, small-flowered hybrid plants intermediate in size between pansies and violets.[2][3]”

Well, that description surely expands the possibilities beyond violet and yellow. However, I am enjoying my simpler spring day with what is before me.