Violas - wigwams, and week old kittens
Violas are one of our favourite garden flowers at this time of the year. They’re affordable, readily available, and most importantly, great performers. Just a few placed in pots can add a touch of magic to a spring display and whether used as single specimens or en-masse they always bring a sense of happiness to the garden. It may be their markings, some resembling mustachioed faces, that makes them so popular. If they were an internet meme, they’d be a ball of week-old kittens - you’d just want to pick them up and rub your nose amongst them.
Though relatively small in size they are more than able to stand on their own two feet when it comes to attracting attention but they also make fabulous partners for early spring bulbs such as tulips. The later flowering bulbs can actually help the ever growing violas by acting as supports.
Viola’s enthusiastic growth is welcomed but they will often reach a point where they become too big for their boots and the whole clump collapses under the weight of the flowers. At this point we’ve never found an effective solution. Once flopped, repairs never quite return them to their former glory. Cutting them back and feeding can help but we usually find that they’re ‘burnt out’ by this stage and a different plant such as trailing verbenas for instance are a good replacement.
The answer of course is to not let them fall over in the first pace, hence the little supportive wigwam in our picture. The ones pictured are a variety called ‘Honey Bee’. We love the bronze colouring and stark central markings. We’re also fans of ‘Tiger’s Eye’, another that sports bronze petals with distinct markings, but have noticed ‘Honey bee’ creeping into the popularity ranking for the last few years. A look at The Meadow Croft Viola and Pansy Festival records for the last four years shows ‘Honey Bee’ appearing twice with ‘Tiger’s Eye’, once incredibly popular, not appearing in the top ten for the last four years. Rankings aside, go for what you love. You’ll never be disappointed.
