Viola odorata Mrs R Barton

Viola odorata 'Mrs R Barton' is an ancient variety of scented violet with a beautiful vigour and refined flowering. This small perennial forms over time a luxuriant carpet of leaves from which emerge a quantity of rather large flowers, from March to July. They are all different, more or less washed and speckled with mauve on a white background, sometimes striped with violet, and carried by long dark stems. They will be more colourful in cool weather and their fragrance, very pleasant, is of medium intensity. In the garden, it easily settles in shaded areas, even occasionally dry, beautifying the ground where many perennials struggle to grow.

Viola odorata, is the European violet, also called in some regions Sweet Violet, English Violet, Garden Violet, Common Violet, English Violet, March Violet. This small perennial of the Violaceae family is native to clear woods, edges, hedges, lawns, meadows and roadside verges.

'Mrs R Barton' was selected in 1930 by Windward Nurseries in the United States. This vigorous cultivar slowly covers the ground with rounded clumps composed of cordate (heart-shaped) leaves of a fairly dark green colour. The plant spreads thanks to short stolons, a bit like strawberries. The foliage, more or less evergreen, 5 cm (2in) tall, can disappear in summer in case of drought. The flowering of this variety takes place from March to July, it will last longer if the soil remains moist. Clumps of leaves appear on violet-coloured peduncles 15 cm (6in) tall, each carrying a flower of a good size for this type of violets. Made up of 5 petals more or less mauve-coloured, they exhale a slightly green and sweet floral fragrance, of medium intensity. The flower of the sweet violet is commonly used in pastries; the leaves are also edible.

The scented violet 'Mrs R Barton' will be happy almost anywhere as long as it is planted in a semi-shaded position that is not too arid. It is used to decorate the base of trees and bushes, in flowerbed borders, along paths or in rockeries where it often self-sows. For example, associate it with primroses, pansies or horned violets, lilies of the valley, liverworts, small ferns. It can also be grown in pots or containers to be placed on the windowsill (for the light fragrance), or on the terrace, without forgetting to water it.

Violets and pansies belong to the genus Viola. How to differentiate a violet from a pansy? By the arrangement of their petals: the first has two upright petals and three petals turned downwards, the second has four upright petals, the fifth, larger than the others, lowers its head. Violets are almost all native to temperate regions of the globe. The vast majority of them are perennial, but hybrids with large flowers are sold and used as annual plants.