Admiring From Afar...

The rain came down, yesterday and today, and I am snug in the house, but looking through the windows at the violas.  They are flowering on and on, holding their faces up to the unfamiliar rain; the temperatures are still warm, so they will bloom on, no doubt, for a good few weeks yet.

Viola 'Columbine'

I read on another forum that Viola 'Columbine' was lost in the winter in parts of the U.S.  I only have this viola since this last spring, so I will have to watch it carefully in case we get frost;  it has grown so well and flowered all summer, I would not like to lose it.  Deadheading this plant is not as easy as it is with some; the flower stems are quite wiry and grow very very long as the plant matures;  while with other varieties, a quick nip between finger and thumb is enough to remove the dead flowers, Columbine resists, even though the stalks are thin, and it is only too easy to pull part of the plant up if you use too much pressure in the pull.  Hence I found myself with quite a few unplanned cuttings as early as June and July.  Viola 'Vita', which has a similar habit of growth to Columbine, with similar string-like flower stalks, is much easier to deadhead, for some reason.  If it were not for the lush foliage which supports both these violas, I would imagine that the flowers would lie down in the tubs and not look half so perky as they do.

Viola 'Vita'

Viola 'Etain' still blooming away

It is amazing how different the different viola cultivars behave in many ways.  Some are easy to deadhead, some are difficult like Columbine; some need much more deadheading than others; some produce seed heads quite easily while others only yield four or five over the flowering months.  And the plants even behave differently in different gardens.  I know people who praise fulsomely Viola 'Maggie Mott' for her long and prolific flowering, while with me she flowers for a few weeks, sparingly, and now is just green leaves, not very lush either, although she has been fed and watered just the same as all the other violas.  In a way I love this individuality of the different cultivars, though.  It shows that even plants of the same variety are little personalities in their own right.


Viola 'Cleo', blooming since April

One thing I keep meaning to mention.  When deadheading your plants, make sure to run your finger and thumb right down to the base of the flower stalk before you nip.  Some people do not do this, and leave long stalks which eventually turn brown and dry but do not fall off.  A plant bristling with these redundant stalks is not really very attractive.  Also, I would fear that they might eventually rot and harm the whole plant.  At the top of the blog you can see Viola 'Jackanapes', with just such a stalk.  This occurred, however, because an enthusiastic puppy lopped off the flower just before the photo was taken.  It does serve, however, as an illustration of how not to deadhead.