Viola Sorbet XP Blackberry - Horned Pansy

The Viola Sorbet XP 'Blackberry', a variety of horned violet with fascinating little silky deep purple flowers, and a cheery tiny golden heart. This robust and compact plant is early and flowers abundantly for months on end.  It combines well with spring bulbs and looks good at the base of asters later in the season, while in rockeries it quickly spreads its dark and evergreen carpet. It can be used to create charming borders and sumptuous pots.  This small biennial plant is grown in humus-rich soil, in partial shade or dappled sunlight.

Belonging to the Violeceae family, the horned violet, which grows wild in the Pyrenees, is a low perennial plant that has given birth to numerous hybrids. Often crossed with Viola tricolor, their most famous descendants are garden pansies. The 'Sorbet Blackberry' variety is a spreading herbaceous plant 10 to 15 cm (3.9 - 5.9 in) tall when in bloom, with dark green, oval, and crenated evergreen leaves that form a spreading clump. It is covered in flowers from spring to autumn. Its almost black flowers have wide, purple blotches, with black stripes radiating from the white and bright yellow heart. They resemble small pansies but their petals are arranged differently. The two upper ones are erect while the other three are inclined downwards. The plant spreads quite rapidly thanks to its root system and also self-seeds very easily in the garden, not always true to type.

Horned violets are intended for low beds and borders but also pots and window boxes, where they can be used to create beautiful colour combinations on their own, or with other plants that flower in spring and summer (forget-me-nots, dwarf daffodils, daisies, primroses, tulips, summer and autumn asters, etc.). The flowers of horned violets are edible, so do not hesitate to decorate your plates with one or two flowers, or even sprinkle some on your salads to give them a splash of colour.

Note: Please be aware that our young plant plugs are professional products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, transplant them as soon as possible, into containers, flowerpots, or directly into flowerbeds.