WILDFLOWER: Common Dog-Violet

Common name: Common Dog-violet

Latin name: Viola riviniana

Shakespeare talked about violets, they are recorded in texts from Ancient Greece, they do not have a colour so much as they are a colour used as a reference point for other things. We talk of shrinking violets etc. etc. Violets are one of those flowers most embedded in our cultural history, and the common dog-violet is the one most often found in the wild, so any time I spot one I can;t help but admire them. 

I spotted this drift of them growing in shorter grass near a sunny hedgerow at Esdale. We do cut the grass there, but leave it for 2 or 3 weeks at a time between cutting, so it lets them grow and thrive. When we do cut it, we set the mower on its highest setting and it goes right over them, taking off any grass which is starting to takeover.

Often confused with whiter wild pansies, these incredibly ornate little flowers with heart shaped leaves. They flower from April until June, so are a welcome sign that spring is here each year when they appear.