Common blue violets are a favorite of mine. Their delicate flowers and heart shaped leaves are a welcomed sight in my lawn. They are a perennial in the violaceae family, native to eastern and central North America. They are very common in Ohio, easily Ohio’s most frequent of our viola species. I’m not the only fan, four states have chosen the common blue violet as their state flower: Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Wisconsin.

Recently I have invited them into a flower bed as a green mulch with the full knowledge that the violets are prolific, spreading by both rhizomes and Cleistogamy (non-opening, self-pollinating flowers) seed heads in late summer to early autumn. Those seed heads can shoot out the seeds as far as 9 feet away from the plant. And because violets are so proficient at reproducing some people consider them a nuisance weed. My hope is that they form a carpet under my Clethera shrubs eliminating the need for bagged mulch in this area. Continue reading Focus on Natives: Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) →