Viola odorata is common in lawns and spreads by runners. The flowers can be white or purple. It is pretty easy to ID by the distinctive hooked stigma. If the stigma is straight it is another species.

I just came back from a walk at Demarest Llyod State Park, (a wooded area near the ocean) and saw the cutest little violet, but can't identify it. It's leaves were longer than wide, was tiny, maybe 2"X2" , had dark purple flowers, and was growing at the edge of the road, under deciduous trees. I tried Googling it, and the one it looked most like was the New England Violet, but the range map did not include MA. Also, I saw a maroon-leaved flower with small pink buds, facing down like a bell, the opened flower was white, and faced up. The leaves reminded me of columbine leaves. Over-all, I'd say the plants were about a foot wide, and 8" high. Any ideas?

Dawn, The humidity is doing much of the damage, leaves and buds get steam cooked. My drainage is very good, not from anything I did but simply because I live on a slope. My soil is sandy, I did add that, lots and lots of it. Its the best thing I ever did although many people adamantly disagree with this being a good thing to do with clay soil when I mention it. They start in on "NO NO NO...add organic matter". I did that for years but nothing made the dramatic difference like the sand did. I no longer get cracks when its dry and water soaks in quickly and deeply making for good root growth. Maybe it depends on the soil you start out with whether this is a good thing to do or not, mine was heavy on the clay side and the coarse sand really helped. The plants near the bottom of the slope are the victims of too much ground water for the most part. I believe with so much soil saturation, it slowly drains that direction for days and the roots suffer as a result as if they are standing in water, same principle. Then it rains again. I have a Russian Sage down by the street and this is a plant I had always thought was indestructible, Mr Suckers-a-Lot. The thing is huge. Its not dead but its wimpy small and looks like a sickly plant which needs water. Plants with too much water seem to always look the same as plants that are dying of thirst, ever notice that? I believe its lack of oxygen along with root rot damage and thats why some people end up killing plants from more over watering misdiagnosing the problem, inadvertently making it worse. I thinned out some Little Bluestem out today. They were as tall as Panicum 'Northwind' except they were laying flat on the ground looking absolutely awful. The Panicum 'Northwind' is taller than me and then some. I cut back a Milkwort plant that was growing like a horizontal tree with a woody "trunk", if you held up one of the horizontal branches it was as tall as me and 5ft wide. I swear, it really is a Milkwort. I have some kind of "triffid" native perennial on the low end of the slope that is as tall as the house, no exaggeration, very narrow and vertical while the ones planted higher up are about 2ft tall. I am waiting to see what it is, I can't remember the seed I planted but I must have liked it since I planted several. Its got white stems and smooth blueish waxy narrow lance shaped leaves, it looks sort of like a gigantic monstrous milkweed, quite sculptural actually except the leaves are alternate, not opposite, a mystery. Plants that are supposed to be about 7" tall like Tahoka Daisy are 3 to 4 ft tall. The native Gallardia have been thickly loaded with bloom since spring but the desert marigolds, my best bloomers especially in times of drought look all dried out and scraggly. I culled through the poor rotted hens and chicks today. Maggots were eating the rotten roots. But, the weather was fantastic and the humidity is down and we are promised a dry out period. I will remember this summer for sure. It has been great for rooting Lantana cuttings. I keep rooting more and more plants. The hardy ones here in OKC are Miss Huff, Gold Mound, New Gold, Carnival, Ham and Eggs and Horrida. Its been a great year for starting new plants right smack in the middle of summer (or endless hot spring). You take the good with the bad.

I think this is somewhere amongst Vv. betonicifolia-mandschurica-yedoensis. In all those species, leaf shape varies somehwat, the flowers can be white instead of the normal purple, and hybrids are possible.