Violets

How to choose a violet

The Native Violet is the groundcover of the group: a dense evergreen mat a few centimetres high with small kidney shaped leaves and white and purple flowers held above the foliage for most of the year. It spreads by runners and fills shaded ground where lawn fails.

Sweet violets are grown for perfume. The White Sweet Violet and the Buchan White Sweet Violet are white flowered forms, the Pink Violet, Rosina, is a pink one, and Conte di Brazza and Lady Hume Campbell are old named varieties for collectors.

The Labrador Violet has purple tinted leaves and small mauve flowers in spring, and the Freckles Wood Violet has pale flowers speckled with violet. Both are deciduous or nearly so in a cold winter.

Where violets grow

Native violet comes from the moist forests of eastern Australia and grows from cool temperate districts to the subtropics, in shade or part shade with regular moisture. It takes light frost, and browns in full summer sun or dry soil. It tolerates only occasional foot traffic, so use it around stepping stones and not as a path.

Sweet violets need a cool winter to flower well. They suit cool temperate and mild temperate gardens such as Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Tasmania and the ranges, and are frost hardy. In the subtropics they grow leaves but flower poorly. The woodland violets want the same cool, moist shade.

All of these spread by runners and seed. Sweet violet and Labrador violet can spread beyond the bed in cool, moist gardens, so keep them out of bushland. See also our groundcover plants, plants for full shade and plants for partial shade.

Planting and spacing

Plant in autumn or spring into soil enriched with compost or leaf mould. Under deciduous trees is ideal for sweet violets, which then get winter sun and summer shade. Space native violet 30 to 40 centimetres apart for cover within a season or two, and sweet and woodland violets 25 to 30 centimetres apart. Water in and mulch lightly with fine leaf litter, not coarse bark that buries the crowns.

Care basics

Keep the soil moist, especially through the first summer. Native violet shows dry stress quickly by thinning out, and recovers once watering resumes. Feed lightly in spring with a slow release or organic fertiliser. Heavy feeding gives sweet violets leaf at the expense of flowers.

In late autumn, shear or pick off the old leaves of sweet violets so the flowers show and air moves through the clump. Lift and divide crowded clumps every few years after flowering, replanting the young outer pieces. Red spider mite can bronze the leaves in hot, dry weather and is discouraged by regular watering and shade. Trim the edges of any violet patch once or twice a year with a spade to hold it in bounds.

Common questions

Can I use native violet instead of lawn?

In moist shade with little foot traffic, yes. It will not stand regular walking or play.

When do sweet violets flower?

From about June to September, through winter and into early spring, in climates with a cool winter.

Are these the same as African violets?

No. African violets are indoor plants from a different family. These are hardy garden violets for outdoor shade.

Do violets spread?

Yes, by runners and seed. Edge the bed and keep them away from bushland.