774 



VIOLA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



VIOLA. 



Avellan, La Grosse Bleue, La France, 

 California, Princess of Wales, Luxonne, 

 Belle de Chatenay, White Czar, Lady 

 Hume Campbell, Marie Louise, Victoria 

 Regina, Wellsiana, and the perpetual 

 blooming Violet well known in France 

 as La Violette des Quatre Saisons. 

 This differs slightly from the Sweet 

 Violet, but is valuable for its long 

 season ; it is the variety used by the 

 cultivators round Paris. The double 

 white, or, as it becomes in the open 

 air, the rosy-white Belle de Chatenay, 

 has a robust habit. Though not so 

 pure as the old double white kind, it 

 blooms more freely, and is neater. 

 The Neapolitan Violet is tender and 

 needs protection. 



V. FED ATA (Bird's-foot V.). The most 

 beautiful of the American Violets, with 

 handsome flowers i inch across, pale or 

 deep lilac, purple or blue, the two upper 

 petals being sometimes velvety and deep 

 violet like the petals of a Pansy. The 

 variety bicolor is a pretty form, its flowers 

 larger, and the petals arranged like those 

 of a Pansy, the two upper ones rich velvety 

 purple, and the three lower delicate blush. 



-. "^.^Wss^KHMF* ?""'" 

 Viola reniformis (New Holland Violet). 



V. RENIFORMIS (New Holland V.). 

 This mantles the ground with a mass of 

 small leaves and slender, creeping stems, 

 and bears throughout the summer blue 

 and white flowers of exquisite beauty, 

 about 2 inches high. It is pretty for a 

 bed of peat or very light earth, where 

 taller plants are put out in a scattered 

 way for a time; but, being small and 

 delicate, it should not be used with coarse 

 plants. It must be treated like a tender 

 bedding plant taken up or propagated 

 in autumn, and put out in May or June. 

 Australia. Division. Syn., Erpetion. 



V. ROTHOMAGENSIS (ROUCII V.). A 



handsome plant, dwarf, and with low, 

 creeping stems, which bear in spring 

 numerous purple and white blossoms. It 

 is a free grower, but, being a native of 

 Sicily, is not so hardy as some Violets, 

 and should be grown in a light soil and 

 a warm border. 



V. TRICOLOR (Heart's-ease). The Pansy 

 is usually classed under the head of V. 

 tricolor, though it is probably descended 

 from F.' altaica to which many Pansies 

 seem nearly allied. But our Pansies are 

 so numerous, so varied, and, withal, so 

 distinct from any wild Violet, that little 

 can be traced of their origin. Of one 

 thing we may be certain the parents of 

 this precious race were mountaineers. 

 Only alpine plants could give rise to such 

 rich colour and such wealth of bloom. It 

 may be treated as an annual, a biennial, or 

 a perennial, according to climate, position, 

 and soil. One of the commonest of weeds 

 in Scotland, the wild V. lutea may be 

 grown in the south of England if sheltered 

 from the midday sun. 



The fancy Pansies are remarkable 

 for the strange variety of their colours 

 and the unusual size of the blooms. 

 The seed should be sown in July or 

 August, in pans of light, leafy soil, such 

 as sand, leaf-mould, and mould from 

 rotted turf, and placed in a cool, shady 

 place. 



As it is rarely convenient to plant 

 the seedlings at once where they are 

 to bloom, they should be placed in 

 pots plunged in a cool place in the 

 open ground, and put out in time to 

 get established before winter. They 

 stand the winter well, and the only 

 danger lies in heavy rain or sleet suc- 

 ceeded by sharp frosts. 



Self-coloured Pansies, which I call 

 tufted Pansies, are among the most 

 beautiful things one can cultivate in a 

 cool rainy country like ours. In the 

 north, among mountains and hills, 

 they are at their best ; in the south, 

 with care, they are lovely, and when 

 other flowers may be beaten to pieces 

 by storm, they are better than ever, 

 only one must take care to change the 

 ground now and then, because certain 

 worms are fond of the plants and get 

 into it. One often loses them also in 

 a hot summer, so that it is always best 

 to renew the stock from some cool 

 northern nursery and increase them 

 as much as possible from autumn 

 cuttings. If we have any young 

 plants we should plant in autumn or 

 in spring when the trade stocks are 

 mostly to be had. Plants of this 

 " tufted" habit are often a mass of 



