An Ode to the Violet

Saturday, August 27, 2011
Roses are red...
Violets are blue ...

Wait a minute! They're not blue, they're violet. Violets are violet!


It was such a beautiful day here in Canterbury yesterday. My husband and son were off skiing with the school for the day. My middle children were safely tucked away in their classrooms, so Miss Alice and I decided to enjoy the sunshine and ramble round the local farmers market. We parked quite far away just so we could enjoy a lazy walk down the pretty country road.
In between Miss Alice getting sidetracked with every single little 'woof woof' that we saw out on a walk, we purchased some doggy treats, a bottle of lemon and chilli cordial, and then I commited a major blunder by paying $8 for four (albeit large and tasty) organic parsnip. So while still reeling a little senseless from the shock of my stupidity (it was my math that let me down again), I stumbled upon a little table with a basket full of violet plants. 

I bought two healthy looking specimens - just the scent alone is enough to charm you into buying them.  Don't you love burying your face into the middle of a violet plant. That is a rhetorical question because I don't know of anyone that doesn't like violets. 
So today I will find a nice shady, sheltered little spot for them in my garden.

I am one of those people that don't believe a garden is a garden - not a proper garden, without the presence of sweet velvety violets.

The doggy treats are all gone. The cordial is delicious. The parsnip were lovely roasted, but each mouthful was like eating gold, but the violets are violet and my garden is now richer for being graced by their very violetness.

2 comments :

Diane N. said...

Hi Rachel,

Your post fascinates me because I also love violets, but never have heard of violets with a scent. Is this a New Zealand variety? In the Midwest of the USA, I haven't heard that violets have a scent. But they are lovely flowers. They look like your picture, though less common varieties are yellow and white (with purple at the center of the petals). They grow like weeds here and scatter through the lawn and in shade.

They also taste pretty good!

southseaislandhome said...

Hi Dianne,
I've always only known violets to have a scent. I didn't know there were scentless ones around - it must be the same family but no scent, perhaps. There are rare white and apricot coloured violets here too. You'll have to see if you can find a scented plant - they have quite a strong fragrance. I've had the plants sitting on my kitchen bench overnight and the house is filled with their smell.

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