I bought some of these seeds online last year and just love the flowers! They really are very close to being black. I got them just for the unusual color of the flowers, but then I had an added surprise and got Variegated Fritillary caterpillars on them and raised them and released the butterflies. It was funny how I had a great big pot of violets that I dug out of the yard to feed the butterfly "cats", but all they wanted to eat was the black, so I'm going to make sure to order another packet this year. I very seldom even get VF cats on my violets, so this was an added bonus. :)

Cathy