My story isn't quite as cool as yours Jeanne! I think it would have to be the smell first and foremost. But I also like the intense purple/blue color of the wild violets. Its kind of neat that they aren't big and flashy but that you have to search them out. B

I grew up in the northern woods where violets were absolutely everywhere - the main species (if indeed it was just one) was a woolly blue wood violet that is apparently considered to be just a variant of Viola sororia (but after growing V. sororia, I beg to disagree!). The only thing they lacked was scent - and being into herbs from a young age, I knew that sweet violets were supposed to have a rapturous fragrance, and that I had never experienced it. Several attempts to procure the real sweet violet met with failure - gratuitous mislabeling is rampant in many local nurseries, and I ended up with the real Viola sororia (weed extraordinaire!) that way as a birthday present. A tiny white native violet from particularly moist and cool spots, maybe V. blanda or perhaps one of its relatives, did have a wonderful scent like clover blossoms and honey - although it was a sparse bloomer, and it took about 10 flowers to make a thumb-sized bouquet, I did cherish it. Finally, on a serendipitous trip East to scope out potential colleges (and stopping at every nursery and garden on the way), we bumped into a man selling plants by the roadside in upstate New York; he had a pot of violets labeled "sweet violet" for sale, and I recognized the leaves as V. odorata instantly. This was summer; it wasn't until it bloomed the following spring that I realized it was quite a rare variety.

We all have sweet memories from childhood about violets...

I used to make bunches of wilde violets on the road to school for my mum when I was a child. They were growing on an old wall n they smelt wonderful, light blue: I wish I could find them back but I still haven't and that old wall had been destroyed to build new houses in the small village where my parents live (not a small village anymore) :-/
Then violets vanished from my life...

About 5 years ago I put some odoratas from my mum's garden on my balcony. One day I took a look on the web to find things about violets (just for fun: everybody knows how boring cold rainning days can be ;o)) and found that crazy viola sororia 'freckles', OH MY GOD !!!!! I wouldn't have guessed so many different kind of violets could exist all around the world, even in Australia.

I read many books, met some new friends, looked for violets in friends' gardens (I guess I pi---- off many of them !! LOL) and little by little my love for violets as my kwonledge about them became bigger...They are part of my life now :-)

All the best - Thierry :-)

I came to appreciate wild violets in a round-about way - I got back to basics after first falling in love with Pansies and Violas. Everywhere I've ever lived they were just the most reliable winter bloomer. And they come in so many shapes and colors. I'd always liked wild violets and loved it when I stumbled across Birdsfoot Violets in the Ozark Mountains. Now I live where it is a bit hot to start seeds in late summer for fall/winter blooming but I love starting them from seed AND I have a large collection of true violets (both species and cultivars).

Hey Folks,

I don't quite remember if it was at one of our local super market garden displays or an office display of these beauties, I just remember falling head of heels in love with these velvet looking little beauties.

I loved the variety and colors and compact size too boot. There is just something about a violet that makes the heart feel all nice and warm inside.

Flo

As a child from the cartoon movie "Alice in Wonderland."
When she is singing with the flowers in the garden, I loved the small pansies with faces. Now whenever I see pansies and especially violets, I see rows of little faces looking toward the sun, like a tiny audience :)

i was dropping some stuff at my girlfriend's house one day, parked on the street, finished giving her the stuff, came out of her house walking towards my car, and i saw this lonely single stem velvet purple/yellow viola growing from the sidewalk, so i plucked it, still some roots, and drove it home in my car, grew that one viola that summer, i nurtured it, and it produced alot of flowers, next spring, like 20 popped out from the ground, discovered that they have seedpod,,me and my little sister love popping them, i am also into impatien seeds too cuz we can pop the seeds.. :) happy gardening :)