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violetvamp

Growing Violets?

Violetvamp
18 years ago

Hello again,I did a little research and am going to order some different violets from Canyon Creek Nursery.I have never grown any of these before and need to know how to make a suitable bed for them.Two are parmas,plus 4 other kind of similar types.I want to plant them when they get to me and I am ordering them all this month.Pointers would be helpful.Thanks!-Violetvamp

Comments (7)

  • etii
    18 years ago

    Hello !

    Great and good luck with your parmas :-)
    You'll have to protect them during winter or they will die. It's a Mediterranean plant, it loves the sun. Do you have a greenhouse ?
    What is a similar type to parma ? What about their names ?

    Take care :-)
    Thierry.

  • Hicup
    18 years ago

    I am not familiar with what a parma is but I assume a type of violet. My only experiece with violets is not a good one. I love violets (purple ones)and remembered them from when i was young and would see them wild. I just had to get some. We found ours at a nursery and planted them in a section of our yard. What a tremendous mistake. Violets are not like other flowers. Where ever you wanted them to grow is not where they stay. When they flower they spit their seeds and they end up in your grass all over and spread everytime the new flowers flower and spit. They can distroy a yard and become like a weed. They only type of yard I would reccomend them in is a wild flower setting where they can grow unencumbered and take over if they want to and no one is disheartened. Too get rid of them is no easy matter. They grow higher then your grass so look unsightly in your lawn. You can not spray them with weed begone because it does not kill them. They are not like other flowers that come from seed. They have small tubors under the ground. We had to find a "special spray" to finally kill them and it had to be done many times. Even with that done we still had to dig out tubors from underground as some of them simply would not die. I gave a few to my mom and now her grass as millions of those flowers all over her yard. Please think twice before doing this as your husband may throw a fit when he finds what labor is involved to fix the situation. I do love them but just not that much. Better to go elsewhere to enjoy them and walk away. Good luck!

  • etii
    18 years ago

    Hello !

    U've got such a big knowledge about violets and I'm definitively impressed ! ;-)p
    Just a little detail: parma does not make seeds ! :-) It can't be invasive.
    Why are so many people complaining for nothing ? Such a big problem: violets in a yard, the whole world is about to collapse !
    I'm sorry for that and I don't want to be rude but, who knows the magic garden, the one you don't have to spend too much time on: magic spray so as to destroy that, magic spray for the grass not to grow too much and so on. You'll never be able to control everything, even in a garden ! Thank Godness.
    VIOLETS are GREAT ! The best U can have :-)pppp
    Let's love them with their disadvantages, nothing perfect, never, not ever :-)

    Take care.
    Thierry.

  • flowersandthings
    18 years ago

    Before we go around spraying round up on precious parma violets lets get this straight! Violets are a LOVELY group of plants beloved (and grown IN gardens) for centuries! There are a few species (native and non) that can become weedy in North America but even most of those I (and many others) find welcome. Many of the weedy species are even state flowers. (Like new Jersey's) Anyway.... there are also MANY cultivated violets (viola species) that are not weedy at all. Parmas are one of these. They are a delicious scented (large) violet .... I believe they are the one grown for violet water/extract? Now.... they (parmas) are tender so will require a warmer spot (south etc.) in your yard.... protect them from winter cold/wind etc. Also protect them from winter wet. Put them in a well drained spot i.e. on a hill.... or in a sandy spot. Mulch well but don't mulch with soggy things.... Be sure to remove the mulch EARLY! in spring so that the plants don't (when warmer weather sets in ) rot. Put them in a spot (like by a path) where you can enjoy them since most violets are small.... also putting them in a conspicuous (and often visited) place will help you enjoy their fragrance! They like most violets/violas prefer part shade. Oh and most violets like fertile soil.

    My recommendation is to plant on the south or west side of your house, and plant each plant on a little hill (to warm soil and keep it well drained) Plant it where it is protected in winter i.e. on the side of a fence or near the base of larger perennials where they will shade it from winter wind. Mulch it in winter with lighter mulches and remove mulch early. (put in a spot with dappled shade)....
    Also much information/resources STRESSES the tenderness of parma violet so you may do well to keep some plants or divisions or cuttings indoors in case you loose a few. There are also some that grow parmas indoors.
    After that enjoy! Hardly anything but a scented violet brings (in the plant/flower/garden world) so much pleasure!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Link about Violette de Toulouse the beautiful parma violets. :)

  • njones0623
    15 years ago

    I have planted some seeds and they are so small I thought I bought air! Also how well do violets grow in S.FL. When I should I see some movement. Thanks

  • trianglejohn
    15 years ago

    Violetvamp - I live one state lower than you and I grow plenty of violets (most of mine also came from Canyon Creek). I wanted mine to be small blooming potted plants but I've found they handle the high heat and humidity of summer better planted in the ground. I even grow my Parma's outside and just cover them with a flower pot if the night time temps are going to get really cold. I think their threshold is in the low twenties which only happens a few times each winter here in Raleigh. Parma's bloom mid winter for me but we usually have a warm spell at the right time.

    I grow a lot of violets, some I've grown from seeds that friends have sent me from Europe and others I've collected in the wild in my travels around the US. All that being said, I do not have a healthy group of plants this year, something about the high heat and humidity this summer and last summer has opened the door for some sort of disease which ruined my spring blooming time violet wise. So far nothing has died, I only hope they will recover enough to bloom well next spring.

  • mori1
    13 years ago

    Violets are beautiful and if you know when they seed then you can control it. I only have a few and that's because they seed in the fall. When I see the pods forming I cut them off. Yes, I miss some but those I can easily give away. So don't be afraid to grow them. I find them easier to control then my evening primrose or white guara.

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