Daisy,
re
Mike, I would very much love to grow any sort of violas in my garden.
However, after losing Rebecca and Etain, I am wary of trying more.
I would love to hear which ones you think it might be worth having another go with.
I am at 300 metres above sea level on sandy loam. The garden faces north west.
Thank-you. Daisy
'Rebecca' and 'Etain' are bedding violas, rather than
V. cornuta cultivars per se.
I think the latter would be worth a go. They should not prove too fussy about soil or aspect, but they won't do in much shade. Certainly, 300m altitude is no problem. What I don't know about is how best to water them (or not) in a mediterranean climate. In the Pyrenees, they don't have to go months without a drop. I hope I/we can find that out by experience or from others. I would suggest growing them in the ground, or if in a pot make it a big one.
Tip:
Very many pansies and bedding violas have a yellow eye to the flower. That's because their parents do.
V. cornuta does not; it has a white eye. And that can be a clue as to how much
cornuta 'blood' a viola,
sensu lato, has in it.
If you grow several cultivars, or even just the blue and white forms of the species, be aware that they will hybridize. As with blue and white bluebells grown together, where you get some mauve offspring, a similar thing will happen with horned violet.
There are other species to try; not quite like bedding violas, though.
For instance:
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V. scorpiuroides (Crete and Libya; small yellow scented flowers; something of a curiosity)
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V. arborescens (western Med., near the coast; small mauvy flowers; of lesser garden interest unless you're a Viola nut!)
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V. allchariensis (Macedonia; purple flowers)
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V. eugeniae (central Italy; yellow or purple flowers; can be very floriferous)
And I must mention a special group of three:
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V. delphinantha (Greece, Mt. Olympus; and Bulgaria (secret location))
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V. kosaninii (Macedonia, mountains, just creeping into N. Greece)
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V. cazorlensis (Spain, mountains, eg. Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas)
The last three all have pink flowers with slender petals and a very long spur. The leaves, like the first three, are divided into narrow strips. They are also sub-shrubby. The overall effect can be a little like a
Phlox douglasii.
Go to
International Rock Gardener, March 2010, search (CTRL-F) for '
Viola kosaninii' and you will see a photo of a lovely collection of all three growing together in tufa in the garden of Vlastimil Pilous. Scroll down to the next page for some photos closer-up. Tempted?
These three may not be as difficult as the rosulate
Violas from the Andes, but I suspect they would probably prove a bit fussy, at least at first.
If you want to have a go, do what I plan to do: email Vlastimil. I noticed a posting on GardenWeb":
"I have received seeds from Vlastimil Pilous vlpilous@seznam.cz, Chech, has great source of some rare seeds."