"It is impossible to get too much of it": That's it :-)
Thanks for reminding us that little mystery of sweet violet perfume.
I can't hardly wait until I see and smell (I cheated with the violet festival in Toulouse) my first spring bloom; it's on the way in Lyon :-)

All the best.
Thierry.

joanmary, that piece on violet fragrance which you posted is a translation of a German language article. In German, an initial letter "i" followed by a vowel is written as a "j" to avoid confusion with the letter "l".

In the English-speaking world, the chemical in question would be called ionon. And evidently it's a synthetic chemical, one used to produce a violet-like fragrance in a wide variety of manufactured goods.

Now back to the fun stuff. Here in Maryland, Feline, Swanley White, Reid's Crimson Carpet, and de Toulouse are all in bloom today. And flower buds are appearing in numbers. The violet season is finally, deliciously, here!

Hello Etii - how is your violet tree doing?

Jim, you lucky duck! So many lovely types. A Question: if they are cross fertilized, do they hybridize?

Despite the intense heat here in zone 10, I just WON'T give up on getting violets to bloom so I've just received...another... Viola Odorata Rosea and a lovely Parma violet: Marie Louise; waiting for Viola Odorata still to be delivered as Logees is out of it at present! This time I'm keeping them INDOORS and hope they will survive and bloom!

However........I was given a clump of Florida violets from a long time Florida resident GW member. This violet had been growing on his families property for 40 years he told me. Believe it or not, not only is it in full bloom at present, but its multiplied to the extent that I was able to share it last week at a plant exchange here! It's in pretty well full sun to boot! Unbelievable! And wonderfully fragrant to boot! Success...........

First of all, permit me to correct something I said in the prior post. The chemical in question there is known in English usually as ionone; the spelling ionon is used, but much less frequently. Second, I Googled the word Jonon and restricted the results to German language results; there were only 525 results. But when I Googled ionon and restricted the results to German language results, there were 10,700 results. Then I did the same for ionone and there were 13,200 results. Evidently, German usage is roughly divided between ionon and ionone. The comments about the use of capital J to avoid confusion with lower case l still stand, although this is not a change in spelling as we understand it but rather simply a position specific change to avoid the potential confusion mentioned.

Now on to some violet things. Joanmary mentioned two things in her most recent post which I want to follow up on. Because I'm new to this forum, I hope members of long standing will forgive me for bringing up topics which may have been discussed in the past.

One concerns joanmary's qurey: "A Question: if they are cross fertilized, do they hybridize?" My understanding is that Parma violets cannot be raised from seed. Is this true? For instance, do Parma violets form apomictic seed, seed which would give progeny exactly like the parent?

Other sweet violets can be raised from seed and hybridized.

The second thing which interests me is this question of violet culture in warm climates. I've seen speculation that what we know as Parma violets may have originated in the mid-East, and that they were cultivated in Arabia long ago. One would think that if they grew in Arabia, they would grow in Florida, certainly northern Florida!

I'm curious to hear what the more experienced members of the group have to say about these things.

My treeS -I made another one with Doreen- are ok Jaonmary :-) I cross my fingers 'cause march is not a month I'm in love with: Suddenly the weather can become really cold and kill little sweet violets. So I'm protecting them :-) Do hate winter :-(

Jim mck: you're right, parmas normally don't make seeds (however it can happen) but can make some pollen. There's a few things about parmas. Mystery :-) Where do they come from ? Can their seeds germinate when they make some ? Is the pollen ok for crosses ?? Well, the best thing is not to listen to advice and try :-) "Just do it" ;o)
The point is not that parmas enjoy warm place (parma is not a tropical plant) but they die if it's too cold in winter. The perfect thing to have blooms is: 10°C during the night and 20°C during the day (j'ai bien appris Nathalie ?). No place is perfect except if you take care :-)

All the best :-)
Thierry.

Certainly they are likely to come from a place with a rather moderate, moist climate - I had mentioned areas like the highlands of Yemen earlier, but I have to imagine that any similar region (high altitude but within the subtropical or tropical regions) would fit the profile well. The highlands of Ethiopia, where coffee is native, would be another such place, for example. Even parts of the Himalayas could serve as a potential homeland for the lowly (but only in stature!) Parma violet.

Florida? Perhaps, especially if they can get some cool relief during part of the year. I would think that insect and mite problems might be particularly problematic as heat becomes more of a year-round reality.

Personally, I experience very little if any loss of sensitivity to violet fragrance - lucky me!

I'm going to keep my V. Odorata and Marie Louise indoors and hope for the best. The ?native florida ones are thriving, fragrant and I see many mini seedlings all around the clumps!

I did not see any violets in Egyptian nurseries. Sea level, hot/dry so I'm not surprised. I know South Africa has many fragrant violets but Parmas? Maybe in the Cape Province which has a Med. climate or in the Drakensburg Mountains which has a cooler climate than the escarpment of Johannesburg or the semi tropics of Duban. Bet they are found all over the place in the Maluti mountains in Zimbabwe.

If there are no viable seeds for the Parmas, they must propogate via runners? European Royalty cultivated them I believe.

I think that the violets would be better off outdoors even in Florida, unless your plan involves measured refrigeration and keeping them in air-conditioned (and humid) conditions for the rest of the year.

Could you describe the wild, fragrant violets you're finding in Florida? The reason I ask is because not too many American species are fragrant, and I wonder if they may in fact be a foreign species.

Parma violets do propagate asexually through runners. They were favored by at least a few members of European royalty, but did not originate with them... yet their precise origins (both in space and time) are a near-complete mystery. I believe that Africa is within the realm of possibility, as is Asia - Europe, I would think, does not possess too many unexplored habitats that such violets would prefer. The only other kind of origin that I can imagine is a hybrid one, but developing better clues to that end would require more in-depth (read: genetic) analysis that the French would seem to be in the likeliest position to carry out (since it is of some economic importance in France).

Does anyone know when the so-called Parma violets were first mentioned in European literature - or for that matter, in any literature? I took a quick look at several of the early sixteenth century herbals (Clusius. Gerard, Gerard/Johnson, Parkinson), some of which mention both single and double sweet violets, but saw nothing which would definitely correspond to so-called Parma violets.

I would expect many nineteenth century references, but is there anything earlier?

I just took a look at my recent post, and ...ouch!
The herbals alluded to are late sixteenth century (Gerard) and early seventeenth century (Clusius, Gerard/Johnson and Parkinson). Sorry: blame the spring fever!

Just in passing, nothing to do with Parmas...
Joanmary - Your mention on violets in Egypt...
There is the rarely discussed Viola scorpiuroides, which occurs in Egypt, Crete and Libya, near the coast.

Close-up - http://www.pharmakobotanik.de/systematik/7_bilder/kreta04/Kr041724.jpg

Whole plant - link below

Oh - and its fragrant.

Anyone fancy crossing it with an odorata?

Here is a link that might be useful:

Mike, the violet is beautiful! Could be that they grow in Southern Egypt.

A pic of the violet blooming in Ft. Lauderdale. Full sun & fragrant.

I read somewhere that violets have a sedative affect on the nervous system. I always get sleepy and relaxed when I spend time with them during blooming, especially the Parmas. They also make salads looks very pretty.