Both violets and clover spread a lot when they're happy, but I leave some common violets in my garden anyway, just pull up excesses of it. My other plants grow just fine in the middle of them. The variegated frits will lay eggs on common violets when the gulf frits have totally dominated and/or eaten up my passionvines.
I assume it would be the same with clover, although I haven't seen any since I was a kid and some of it grew in our lawn. Since it's a host for some of the sulphurs, I'd let some of it grow in my garden, too, if any of the sulphurs that use it occurred in my area.
Personally, I think they're both pretty plants, too, especially violets!
MissSherry

Like MissSherry, I just leave patches of the violets and the clover growing in the yard. I like the look and feel of clover anyway, and would love it if my entire backyard was nothing but clover. It tends to die out in the heat of the summer.

My violets seem to grow happily under the cover of my larger plants, since they like shady situations. They bloom in the spring before the larger plants have taken off, so they get enough sun then in order to bloom. They don't seem to prevent anything else from growing at all.

I yearn for fields of clover! I am in a phase now where I let all my wild plants (weeds) grow to see what I have that may be a host or nectar plant. The butterflies seem to prefer them over cultivated plants a lot of the time. Last year I discovered a little groundcover aster that the Dainty Yellows just went ape over! So, I am leaving that for sure. It stays low and compact on the ground in sun, but it grows taller and still blooms in the backyard shade. I also had wild coreopsis pop up in the front yard, so I just let it bloom and set seed so hopefully will get more this year. I leave the wild lettuces and thistle grow, too, because they attract butterflies as well.

I have a menagerie of butterflies and wild flowers now! I now just let the backyard go so I can see what comes up there. Birds have carried many seed into my yard, and it's just too exciting every year to see what else they have delivered to me by surprise!

Susan

Hehehe! I let weeds grow by my roadside for that very reason, too, Susan! It's so exciting to see what I may find!
MissSherry

Hee hee, did any of you ever get giddy over weeds before you were into butterflies? :) Believe it or not, I used to spray our yard for weeds to get rid of every, including clover and violets!! :-O I just didn't know much back then or I wouldn't have done that. Not only did I kill plants that I shouldn't have killed but I think my spraying also killed a kitten that I was raising. It died a horrible death and I've been haunted by that ever since. Ever since then I refused to spray anymore. It didn't save that cat but at least I know I won't kill anything else. Our two cats that we have now go outside sometimes, although they're mostly house cats; I know if I would spray outside (which I'm not going to) and I'd end up killing one of them, I don't think I could live with myself. The one cat has been with us since I went to a farm to pick out a kitten after our cat of 8 years died of cancer. There were so many cute tiger ones with boots (which is what we wanted) and I just couldn't make up my mind. I was sitting on the people's porch floor and all of these kittens were gathering around me, probably each one hoping that I'd pick it. All of a sudden this one adorable one jumped up on my one shoulder. Since I couldn't make up my mind and took that as a sign, that one was the one that came home with me. I went alone to bring it home as a surprise. Mittens will be 12 years old in July and he has stolen all of our hearts and he's especially attached to our daughter, Amber. I know some of you have cats are know how we must feel about him. Anyway, I will never spray anymore more herbicides. Here's a picture of Amber and Mittens if you'd like to see them.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:459816}}

Sorry to get off the subject. I let clover and violets live here and as a matter of fact am going to put the violets off to the side on their own, although we'll still have a lot in the grass. My offer of 50 narrowleaf plantain is still open to anyone who want them. E-mail me for an address. I'd send them all out with no charge at all if I could, but I have to charge postage, and I'm not a not out to rip people off like I think some ebay people are. Not that they probably even have weeds to sell though. LOL I will be able to dig some out of our yard next week when it warms up a little. I can't stand to go out there right now because it's only 32 deg. It's weird having temps in the 70s for two days and then going way down to this again. Here I thought winter was over! I was hoping for an early spring so I could start putting out plants, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I might also at some point also be able to dig out some violets to send people, but I'm not sure how big they are yet. If you'd also like 50 of them, please include another $5.00. Just so you know, I probably won't be sending these out for another week, maybe even two. I love weeds now that I found out that butterflies like them and they're staying here from now on. The violets and clover cohabitate with the grass just fine, but I want to try to get as many violets out of the grass as possibly because if any frit caterpillars are on the plants they'll end up getting mowed up. :(
Cathy

Actually, I've always allowed the clover and violets to grow, since I bought my house in 1998. I like them. I hate bermuda grass. I even let the crabgrass grow because it looks nicer than a bermuda lawn. It has the look and feel of fescue (actually it's softer than fescue). So, I guess I've always been a "wild" nature girl when it comes to gardening. It's always surprising, as MissSherry said, to see what comes up in the way of wildflowers that many people consider weeds.

Susan

I like the weeds, too. A smooth uniform single-planted lawn is boring. I like the texture, the variation, the silvers, reds, pinks, whites ... the little star flowers that pop up ... the cudweed everywhere. And I'm lucky ... my fiance said, "the yard is yours, do what you want." So my weeds stay. :) I have lots of violets & clover, too.

I haven't had any Sulphurs in my garden although we get loads of Oxalis growing...I bought a PURPLE-leafed one last month and it was just beautiful. The leaves were large and the flowers dainty. I have it in a pot at school. I was teaching the children about shamrocks and thought this unusual colour and size would be perfect for a compare & contrast. :)

Cathy,

Oooh Mittens looks miffed :o) or is that kitty's happy face? Such big eyes too! Gorgeous kitty!!! Love those boots...or is that mittens?

Sent you gw mail about violets. Do let me know.

~ Cat

My violets are about thru blooming - it's such a short bloom time for them. If I am looking for frits on my violets, where would they be? Do they only come out at night to feed? Do they make nests like PLs?

I haven't really checked the clover before, but I guess I best do so. Are the sulphur cats really tiny?

Susan

Variegated frits don't make a nest, just feed openly, like GFs, Susan.
My sleepy orange cats are very small and the little yellows are really tiny and go through their instars, pupation and emergence very quickly. I imagine any sulphurs that feed on clover would be tiny if the adult sulphur is small. Sleepy orange and little yellow cats are real hard to see, because, in addition to being small, they're the same color as the leaves.
MissSherry

Last year I raised a clouded sulphur cat from an egg. I saw the female depositing eggs everywhere on the clover in the lawn.

I'm not surprised at how abundant the adults are here considering how many eggs a female lays, all one at a time.

The egg quickly hatched..a couple of days later I think. The cat ate clover leaves and it was easy to raise. Didn't eat much.

It only once wandered off the food and I had to put it back.

It blended in so well on the clover leaf that I doubt you'd see one in the wild.

I wish I'd taken pictures but thought it was a mundane thing to do at the time. I was bored and nothing else was egg laying at the time. It turned out to be pretty interesting. The chrysalis attached to the side of the container, much like a swallowtail will. It was a pretty bright green little thing.

Hmmmm. Guess I'll just have to lie down in the clover!

Susan

Nice kitty......I have a bunch, and have rescued more.