Small purple flowers

10 years ago

What is it?
Suggestions for transplanting?
We regraded a lot of our property last fall and temporarily covered with mulch. All the soil is very acid and most is shaded. I want some plants we can walk on but don't need to mow. This one has always done well in the sunny (but still very acid) parts of the front lawn, which we do mow, which wasn't regraded (obviously we are not too fanatic about a lawn being just grass). I prefer transplanting things that already grow well in these conditions vs. buying new plants.
How much less sun and how much more slope will this plant tolerate? (Regrading did not mean flat). Or will it fail without mowing because it can't compete with taller weeds?

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Comments (8)

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Whitelacey
10 years ago
It's Wild Violet, considered a weed by most who have it. It will grow pretty much anywhere and take anything you throw at it. It grows in my wildflower garden where it is quite pretty; in my rose bed, lawn, perennial garden, annual bed, foundation plantings, not so much.

Linda
wisconsitom
10 years ago
Yeah, it's a wood violet of some sort. I'm not expert enough to state the exact variety. And as Linda says, not a fussy plant at all! I've got them in my lawn where, this time of year, the effect is quite nice. Later in the summer, as the blooming period recedes into the sunset, I'm inclined to look at my lawn in dismay as this plant is really taking over. Oh well, there's bigger things to worry about! I too don't require 100% Kentucky bluegrass lawn.

+oM
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years ago
if you can figure out how to kill it.. let us know ... other than a herbicide ...

dig them up and move them whenever your little heart desires ...

you may or may not live to regret making such decision ... in suburbia.. i made the mistake of encouraging them ... out here in the country.. with 5 acres.. they dont bother me ... and i hit them with RU when they appear where i dont want them ....

ken
jsf67
Original Author
10 years ago
Is now an OK time to move them? Or do I need to wait and move the roots in the fall when the tops die?
I'm moving a lot of lily of the valley as well, so if/when that takes hold, I will need some deep edging to contain it. Is the same appropriate to the violets or does it spread differently?
The violets seem to be a lot less effective at displacing grass than the lily. So elsewhere on my property, I'm more worried about more aggressive weeds displacing the violets than about the violets growing out of control.
None of the places I'm placing any of this are close to neighbors' lawns. Most people in the neighborhood have a lawn only in front and uncontrolled weeds in the back. My wife insisted on having our back yard ripped up and regraded, so I need to plant some more controlled weeds there.
We only have one acre, but we don't want to mow anything other than a tiny front yard.
lycopus
10 years ago
How it will spread depends on what species it is. If it is Viola odorata it will spread by stolons. If it is V. sororia it will spread by seed or somewhat more slowly by means of rhizomes. The two species are easily distinguished by examining the style of the flower. It has a hook at the end in V. odorata.

Violets can be moved any time but may need extra water until they get established depending on the weather.
jsf67
Original Author
10 years ago
I have no clue what "hook at the end" of the flower might mean. If I try to get an even closer close up (assuming the flowers last long enough), what angle should I try for?

I also don't know what a "stolon" or a "rhizome" is, but I can look that up.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
10 years ago
'Style' in this context is part of a flower, not 'style' as in what it looks like, or wears in the evenings. All these words are useful for accurately and precisely describing a plant. If you check the diagram you'll be able to locate the style on your violets and see if it is hooky or not.

Here is a link that might be useful: Parts of a flower
lycopus
10 years ago
Here is what it looks like in V. odorata. It it's straight it's V. sororia.

{{gwi:203320}}