Violets.

pretty aggressive seeder .... but cute as a button ...

how that fits into the many definitions of 'what is a weed' ..... is left to you ...

there will be at least twice as many next year ...

ken

Violets are native to NA and the host plant for several butterflies.

It’s not possible to tell from just the leaves if this is a weedy native species, a desirable native species, a desirable non-native species or a desirable cultivar.

Violet for sure. But if you want to be 100% sure, wait for the flowers to emerge. Possible they will not flower until next season. The flowers are purpl-blue tone in my garden. I have some white flowering ones as well.

I deliberately let them seed In some of my perennial beds. They look real beautiful with the sea of blue flowers in early spring. And quickly disappear underneath the emerging aggressive perennials. if I feel they are taking up too much space or multiplying rapidly I pull some out. It’s easier to pull out with a weed-puller than dandelions.

I also use the young greens in sautéed greens cooking during spring (my garden beds and lawn are entirely chemical free). I recently found a violet jelly recipe online which I intend to try next spring.

There are about 100 different species of Viola in NA, you can't lump them all together and describe them or make predictions about as if they are all the common V. sororia.

Thanks for pointing that out Jay. Why don’t you help identify the correct species in that case?

All I can see is a common violet, but then I am not a botanist.

Violas are extremely hard to ID without flowers, but if I knew where it was growing, it would help narrow down the possibilities. Viola sororia can spread around, but removing it is so simple that I find it amusing how some people love to discuss it's 'weediness' again and again and again, like a broken record. 😆

Nobody can help identify more accurately it until we have a location and a picture of the flowers.

The scourge of my lot in flower beds.

"but removing it is so simple that I find it amusing how some people love to discuss it's 'weediness' again and again and again, like a broken record."

It is not simple at all if dealing with a serious infestation!! And pretty condescending to assume otherwise. Almost every source discussing this plant will comment on its weediness, the prolificness of its ability to self seed, its rhizomatous nature and the speed with which it can cover real estate.

Viola sororia can spread around, but removing it is so simple that I find it amusing how some people love to discuss it's 'weediness' again and again and again, like a broken record

==>> my premise was the definition of a weed ... which includes::

-anything you dont want in your garden

-anything that pisses you off.. e.g. it seeds around a lot

-etc.. etc.. etc ...

so basically.. you accept my premise it seeds around . and then you tell me my opinion is wrong ... nice circle there ...

its all about what the OP .. original poster wants to define weed as.. make her own opinion.. based on the observations of her friends here ...

i am debating jay.. not arguing ... dont read anything further between the words ...

ken

ps: native or not really has no impact on whether a plant has value to you.. in your garden.. under your definition of what is a weed ... in other words.. there are a lot of native weeds .. that might not belong in your concept of what your garden is ...

"You both missed the whole point. Someone hijacked this thread in the beginning, and the OP never got a proper ID, just " it's a violet" duh. About 600 species, not one species. A succulent Viola from the Andes would behave differently." The shallow rhyzomes are so similar to Geranium and Heuchera, and a good scraping with a hoe can wipe out a whole colony in no time, so what's the issue? You'll make Viola out to be as threatening as Aegopodium podagraria.

A) Heucheras are not rhizomatous. And only some geraniums are.

B) Since violets tend to colonize lawns, "a good scraping with a hoe" is not a practical way of dealing with them without wiping out the lawn as well. They either need to be manually removed individually or treated with an herbicide. Some species have a resistance to certain herbicides as well and multiple applications may be required

C) Not sure how many succulent violas from the Andes are likely to be popping up unbidden in US gardens........

Apparently the violets on the west coast must be a lot worse than what we deal with in the east. I'm thinking that Viola sororia would be the worst spreader around here and yet I can remove an entire plant with just my hand and fingers. There are a lot of Viola species that have leaves similar to the common blue violet, and they wouldn't be as agressive. Sororia is colonizing my front lawn and I'm loving it. I plan on seeding more things into it like Helenium amarum, Sisyrinchium, and Hypoxis, maybe Buffalo Clover. Or you can use herbicides and pesticides to kill all the violets and the planet along with it, just so you can have that perfect, sterile, manicured, monoculture lawn.

Apparently the violets on the west coast must be a lot worse than what we deal with in the east.

The absence of freezing winter temperatures can make some plants more of a nuisance than they are in other colder parts of the country.

Coastal SoCal has a 12-month growing season, and so I have Australian violets, viola hederacea, from one end of the property to the other. (I can't believe I actually purchased them as a small scale ground cover.) No lawn -- imo waste of water in our dry climate -- but invading Australian violets still are yanked. Not seeking perfection, just trying to stop other perennials from being overwhelmed.

I don't even want to discuss the viola odorata that tries to choke out my potted plants.

Nancy, thanks for sharing. Location makes a big difference. I never hear such bad reports from anyone in the eastern part of the country. So, getting rid of violets isn't always so easy.

"Apparently the violets on the west coast must be a lot worse than what we deal with in the east."

I'm not sure location makes much of a difference. The problematic aspect of these wild violas seems to be uniform across the country, judging by the number of east coast and midwestern sources - including numerous extension services - remarking on their potential for weediness. And despite the fact that V. sororia is the state flower of several east of the Rockies states. But that can also attest to how prolific it is :-)

btw, if anyone thinks I advocate a "perfect, sterile, manicured, monoculture lawn", they are sorely mistaken! I have never been a champion of the pristine lawn culture, discourage lawns where unnecessary and cultivate all manner of plants/weeds in my own lawn (including violets), as a few recent posts can attest. But I don't get to apply my gardening principles to anyone else's garden......how they garden is their choice.