Pretty weird!
They certainly look like violets.
Have you looked just under the soil surface for seed pods?(some of the stemless blues do their best to keep their seedpods below ground level for most of their development).
I can't beleive that it is just soil conditions that preclude *all* flowering. The plants look very healthy, but not ridiculously over-nitrogen-fed.
Even sterile hybrids usually produce flowers, even though they may not give rise to seed pods.
Don't have a good answer, sorry!

They look like Viola cucullata don't they?
Those violets have a very quick flowering period..They bloom just before they make new leaves...At the very early spring and if winter is not cold enough, they really make few flowers. They can go on blooming with leaves but flowers are hidden in the foliage.
Go on sharing it with your friends up to one can find the best way to grow it...and keep us informed!

Thanks for the help! I'm really stumped. These were probably planted originally over 3-5 years ago. We just bought this house in December and the woman who owned it was 87, she had lived in this house since 1935 and loved gardening. The last 3 -5 years she was ill and in a nursing home so her gardens and yard went to weeds. Unfortunately she died before we closed on the property and we went through her 67 year old son. He told us a lot about her but he had no idea of what all was planted here. He just knew there was lots of different things planted over the years. So I've been weeding and thinning and trying to ID the things I have no idea of. There have been some really nice surprises but some things I haven't been able to figure out. Like these clumps of violet leaves. In the spring many different kinds of violets came up, everywhere. I love violets so I was happy. There were wild violets and regular-type violets, johnny-jump-ups and a few I don't know but I know they were violets. Nothing fancy but lots of them and they were all beautiful. When these clumps first appeared I thought they would be another violet but they never put out any flowers. I mean that sincerely, I've looked everywhere and examined them every day, underneath, in the leaves, under ground. I can tell you that each leaf has its own root and they have fairly extensive root systems that are hard to dig up. I need the real shovel, a trowel won't do it. These guys are tough. Some are in shade, some are in full sun, some are in semi-shade, some are in partial sun - sun or shade doesn't seem to affect them - they grow the same no matter where they are. I dug some up and put them in some good Scott's potting soil to see if anything would change. They grew just the same as if they were still out in the yard. No lie, my last count was 75 clumps and they're stil spreading. They show up everywhere. They never really put out *new* leaves, it's the same leaves as when they first show up. They all look incredibly healthy but no flowers!! All of the other violets put out tons of flowers. In fact everything she planted over the years put out tons of flowers. Though a few things did need some serious thinning. Right now there is a lot of garden phlox, black-eyed-susans, hibiscus, coneflowers, portulacas, johnny-jump-ups and day lilies. These clumps are the only things that haven't flowered. I figure I'll give them one more Spring and if they don't flower at all next year, I'll be digging a lot of them up. I'm willing to give them another year and keep my fingers crossed. Winter last year was definitely cold enough. We had one of our coldest winters ever last year and over 30" of snow all told. We had a zone 4 type winter last year with the first snow falling in November. (Usually we don't get snow until January, February.) Nathalie, I have looked through the foliage every day since they first came up in May and there has never been even a bud hidden in there. Very disappointing. Maybe next Spring. I've given quite a few to friends to plant so maybe they'll show up in one of our gardens with blooms next year. I'm hoping!

Thanks again,

Peggy

Aha - so do they bloom (chasmogamous flowers) under the snow, I wonder?

But in any case they should be producing cleistogamous flowers/pods by now.

Or do we have a mutant without the ability to initiate flower buds at all? That would be a first, as far as I know. Maybe a flowerless violet would be of use in breeding programmes. Err - slight problem...!

And Peggy, you're not the only one with non-flowering violets - see link

Here is a link that might be useful: Discussion on AVS forum

Thanks Mike! I went to the AVS forum and that poor person probably has the same *violets*!! I'm glad I'm not alone in this, ha ha! I'll keep checking them and let you know if anything shows up besides more leaves. I was really excited in the Spring when they first starfted showing up because I though, wow! these should really put out some good flowers. Hey, there's still time, they might have a chance!!

Peggy

Hi Peggy,
Just as an experiment, you might want to consider trying this. In early October, take a pair of scissors and cut off the leaf petals(just above the stems) of say 1/3 of your Violet plants. Next Spring, check and see if indeed those plants which you had cut back will show blossoms.

I have a large stand of Viola striata. Every Autumn (about mid-October here in Maryland), we run the lawnmower over the plantings...seems to help with the blooming, the next Spring.

Thank you for a great suggestion, jill Ann. I'll give it a try. I want them to be violets SO bad!! I looked up the Viola striata and also wound up looking up Confederate Violet from a link at one of the sites. The leaves sure look awfully close to the ones I have growing everywhere.

I was out weeding a few hours ago (it rained this morning)and two of the clumps that I checked looked like they may possibly have some buds in the leaves. They could be making new leaves and I'm mistaking that for buds, but they really did look like buds to me. Of course I want them to be violets so much that maybe I'm seeing things. I know it's a little late in the year them to be blooming. I'll check them each day this week just in case, I wouldn't want to miss it if there is any sort of flower! I was a little excited when I thought I saw some buds so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I'll try cutting a few of them down in October, either way, there's certainly enough of them to try the experiment with!

Peggy

I have those same "violets"--never blooming and invasive. I too just moved to a new house, from a zone 9 area, so I am unfamiliar with many of the local plants. I took a wait-and-see attitude to the garden, and now the "violets" have taken over. They have dense, woody rhizomes so they're difficult to remove. They also are loved by slugs, at least in my garden. Does anyone have suggestions for how to rid one's garden of this type of plant?

jannabeen, you have my sympathy! :) I still have them and still no blooms and not too long down the road it'll be winter here. The only thing I can suggest is literally digging them up. That's what I'm planning to do next Spring if there are no blooms. I'm hoping it will at least slow them down! So disheartening to expect violets and get nothing but lots of leaves that take over everything. Sheesh.

Good luck and if you come up with a better way, please let me know!

Peggy