Violet or horned viola: description, planting, care

Description

This perennial plant belongs to the genus Violet, family Violet-like. It can reach sizes (height) of up to 26 cm. The flowers have a pleasant aroma and grow in diameter from 2.5 to 5 cm. The petals are quite long, reminiscent of butterfly wings. It grows in small bushes, which, when planted close together, form a kind of carpet.

The violet owes its name to the process present on the back of the flower, similar to a horn or spur. Some modern hybrids of this species do not have such a distinctive horn.

It has been used in gardening as an ornamental plant since the late 18th century.

Horned violet is a creeping plant that, thanks to its branched rhizome, grows widely. 2-3 plants in the second year can completely cover an area of ​​about 2 square meters. m. Flowers grow abundantly on the bushes. So on one viola you can count up to 60 buds and blossoming flowers.

The leaves of the plant are dark green, oval, with rounded teeth at the edges of some varieties. On long cuttings there are single flowers, in their middle there is a yellow or orange “eye”. There are many colors of the petals themselves, developed using the hybridization method. They can be: lilac, yellow, orange, purple, burgundy, etc. There are also single-color varieties of violets, which are most widely used in the design of large flower beds, as well as in landscape design. There are varieties with a combination of several shades of the same color, these are popular among amateur gardeners.

Another undeniable advantage of horned violets is their long flowering. It starts in May and ends by the end of September. In spring there is a peak of this process, the flowers are the largest and there are many of them, by autumn this process gradually subsides.

They feel good and enjoy strong flowering in one place for 5 years, then they need to be transplanted to another.

Photo report from the spring exhibition at the Moscow House of Violets. Part I

Hello, dear forum users and site guests. Currently, the Moscow House of Violets is hosting the exhibition “Spring Gift - 2015”, in which the Moscow Collectors group is taking part. I was able to visit this exhibition. They say that there is never too much beauty. But there was so much beauty at this exhibition! I was pleased with the abundance of neat, well-formed rosettes with lush bouquets, a variety of varieties for every taste. A collector from Vologda, Ivan Rachkov, brought a collection of his chimera violets to this exhibition. There were many interesting miniatures. And all the violets presented are one more beautiful than the other. I think that the judges at this exhibition had a difficult job - to choose the best. Here you can see the winners of the exhibition, what is called “first-hand”. Let's start watching with standards.

Picasso (Tremblay) - the first among variegated violets and the first violet of the “Best in Snow” exhibition:

And further:

RS-Dryad (sport) - a very beautiful rosette, but without polka dots:

I spent a long time choosing between RM-Lacemaker and RM-Royal lace. Both are very good:

I fell in love with the LE-Dandy variety at the winter exhibition. I struggled with myself for a long time. But when I saw Marina Karpova’s rosette, I couldn’t resist and bought a cutting.

Here Marina chooses a cutting for me:

Ma's Soap Bubbles - "Soap Bubbles" - flaunts an airy bouquet:

Everyone's favorite "Fairy":

LE-Two rosettes from different collectors. and both are good:

And this is another rosette of this type:

The new product LE-Surprise Winter was a great success at previous exhibitions.

And this is the sport from this variety, in my opinion. cute:

Chic blue ruffles at PC-Ophelia:

PT-Nightingale trill - a wonderful compact rosette and huge “singing” flowers:

LE-Macho - a chic, powerful rosette and a luxurious bouquet:

And another “Winter smiles”:

LE-Tristan, raised by Irina Leonidovna, was very harmonious:

LE-Southern Night in any version is very beautiful:

LE-Leto Red (chimera sport) won the “Best Folk Chimera” category. An interesting bouquet. All the rich and deep red color was concentrated in stripes in the center of the petals, and the edges of the petals were slightly discolored.

And this is “Red Summer” itself with monochromatic colors:

LE-Copper Horseman - a very unusual, spectacular flowering:

EC-Strasbourg stood modestly on the sidelines. It seemed to me. that this outlet was worthy of a place in the “first rows”. Compact, neat, dark green leaves and a bouquet of rich dark red flowers with slightly pointed petal tips and a variable white border looked very solemn.

Blue Dragon is always good. Unfortunately, the color is not reproduced accurately.

LE-Chateau Brion in two versions:

Another “greenback” Irish Glen:

And this yellow-flowered beauty is Le Oscar:

Look how fluffy “Snow in April” is:

And pink bells against the background of scalloped foliage:

And more white hats:

LE-Parnassus rose conquered! An ideal rosette, a beautiful bouquet on strong peduncles. Luxurious violet!

LE-Dreams Sultan has a rosette - a fairy tale! Such beautiful variegation! And goes well with delicate lilac-lavender flowers:

With this, let me finish the first part of the report from the exhibition. I hope that viewing the exhibition standard violets was interesting and not too tiring. See you in the second part of the report.

Horned violet: varieties

Currently, breeders are actively developing new hybrid varieties of violets. But when planting them, it is important to remember that they survive the winter much worse and need to be well covered for this period of time. And also some of them are biennial plants, not five-year olds. The most common varieties are the following.

This is just a small list of violet varieties. There are a great many of them.

Varieties of Pugacheva

• Foreign selection
• Alen-... - CT-...
• LE-... (Lebetskaya variety)
• LEKO-... - NK-...
• PT-… (Pugacheva variety)
• RM-… (Skornyakova variety)
• RS-… (Repkina varieties)
• Fairy – YAN-Dressy
• Miniatures and semi-miniatures
• Streptocarpus

For fans of domestic selection, the catalog includes beautiful and very interesting varieties from the most popular breeders of Russia and Ukraine.
The price is indicated in rubles per plant leaf. The letter “L” indicates varieties that will be sold in the summer after mandatory prior approval (they will be grown only by summer).

• Foreign selection
• Alen-... - CT-...
• LE-... (Lebetskaya variety)
• LEKO-... - NK-...
• PT-… (Pugacheva variety)
• RM-… (Skornyakova variety)
• RS-… (Repkina varieties)
• Fairy – YAN-Dressy
• Miniatures and semi-miniatures
• Streptocarpus

Features of cultivation and care

Horned violet is a perennial; hybrid varieties can be biennial or annual (if planted as seedlings in open soil). This plant is unpretentious to its growing conditions, but if you take into account some of its preferences and properly care for it, it will bloom better and delight the gardener.

Priming

It grows in almost any soil, but feels most comfortable in loose, light, fertile soil with drainage and a pH of 6.8-7.2. It grows and blooms profusely. It is important to mulch the soil. For this purpose, use: stones, drainage granules, gravel, wood chips and moss. Thanks to this, moisture is retained in the soil, weeds grow less and nutrients are washed out of the soil.

Landing location

It grows best in partial shade, near its taller counterparts, which will protect the violet from the midday sun. You shouldn’t plant it completely in the shade: the stem will begin to stretch, and the flowers will shrink in size and turn pale. In addition, there it is attacked by slugs and snails, which will not add beauty to the plant.

Watering

It should be moderate, it is produced as the soil dries. In hot weather, water more often. If the gardener is temporarily absent and cannot regularly water the violet, it will survive this without dying, but the flowering will become less intense with smaller buds.

With regular spraying (morning and evening) it grows better.

Top dressing

It is held in spring and late August. Mineral and organic fertilizers in weaker concentrations are best suited. It is worth remembering that manure is strictly prohibited. Since it has an extremely aggressive effect on the root system of the flower, damaging it.

Pruning and maintaining a decorative appearance

Sometimes the plant begins to stretch greatly in length, which makes its appearance untidy. In this case, they are trimmed, giving a compact and more well-groomed appearance. If there is no purpose for obtaining seeds, it is better to remove wilted inflorescences. This way the plant will not waste energy on their ripening and will bloom more abundantly and longer. This is also a method of preventing unwanted self-seeding.

Wintering

In general, violet is quite frost-resistant and can withstand temperatures down to -23 ℃. But it is worth remembering that hybrids are more sensitive to cold and should be covered with peat, fallen leaves or spruce branches. Also, newly planted young flowers are also covered for the cold season.

Rejuvenation of plantings

Once every few years (3-5) it is worth carrying out the procedure for rejuvenating plants. When you do this, you can easily notice: the flowers become smaller and there are fewer of them. To do this, dig up the roots and divide them into several parts and transplant them to a new location.

Domestic selection. Varieties of Pugacheva

• Foreign selection
• Domestic selection
• Miniatures and semi-miniatures
• Streptocarpus

• AB-Autumn Forest - KZ-Walk in the Sun
• LE-... (Lebetskaya variety)
• LiK-White Angel - NiL-Shamakha Queen
• PT-… (Pugacheva variety)
• RM-… (Skornyakova variety)
• RS-… (Repkina varieties)
• Holy Naivety - YAN-Dressy

For fans of domestic selection, the catalog includes beautiful and very interesting varieties from the most popular breeders of Russia and Ukraine.

The following symbols are used in the catalog:

• N – new selections from 2013 – 2014;
• Nk – new items in this catalogue;
• L – varieties that will be sold in the summer after mandatory prior approval (will be grown only by summer);

• RM-… (Skornyakova variety)
• RS-… (Repkina varieties)
• Holy Naivety - YAN-Dressy

Reproduction

Horned violet is propagated in several ways.

Horned violet from seeds

It can also be grown from seeds. This is done in two ways: directly sown in the soil or with pre-prepared seedlings.

Foxbrook Cream

Sowing seeds for seedlings

Seeds are planted from February to April. It is important to take into account that the earlier you plant them, the faster the plant will bloom. The period from sowing to the appearance of flowers is 10-13 weeks.

Pre-prepare a nutritious mixture of soil, bake it in the oven to disinfect it from infections and fungi, and pour it with Fundazol solution.

It is necessary to make furrows at a distance of 1.5-2 cm from each other, place the seeds in them, sprinkle the soil on top and spray with water from a spray bottle. It is important to check the germination capacity of a particular violet variety before sowing. It can vary from 60% to 95%.

Then the container with the sown seeds is covered with plastic wrap and watered periodically; the soil should not be allowed to dry out completely. The most suitable temperature for maximum germination is +12…+18 ℃. When the first shoots appear (after about 3-5 weeks), the container is moved to warmer conditions (+18…+22 ℃). It is necessary to remove the film for some time for ventilation. Its duration is gradually increased as the seedlings grow.

When 2-3 leaves appear on the plant, it is important to pick, planting them at intervals of 5-6 cm from each other.

It can be planted in open ground in May, but be sure to water regularly and loosen the soil. The first feeding is carried out after 14 days; mineral fertilizers are better suited.

Sowing seeds in open ground

Can be planted directly into the soil from May 10 to September 10. For this method, self-collected seeds are better suited, but you can also use purchased ones, then you need to take into account their germination.

Before planting, it is important to loosen the soil and make furrows in which the seeds are placed, covered with soil on top and watered.

Next year in the spring, seedlings will appear, which are important to protect from direct sunlight. If the sprouts are located too often, they need to be replanted. In August, the plants are transplanted to a permanent location. If flower ovaries appear, they are removed so that the nutritional juices are not consumed, and the violet survives the winter in a stronger state.

Next spring the plant will delight the gardener with its beautiful blooms.

Vegetative propagation of violets

It is divided into several subspecies.

Dividing the bush

The most suitable period is from early spring to mid-summer.

If you do it during this period, the violet will have time to develop a root system and by the fall it will be strong enough to survive the winter; if you divide later, there is a high probability of the plant dying.

The method is carried out in the following way: the bush is dug up, fragments with roots are separated from it. The separated parts are buried with soil in a shaded place, protected from strong winds, into moist soil. It is important not to let the soil dry out. It usually takes 2-3 weeks for the plant to take root. Next spring they can be transplanted to their intended place.

Reproduction by taps

One of the easiest methods of reproduction. It is necessary to select several long shoots, bend them, press them to the ground in several places with plastic or iron staples (you can use hairpins), sprinkle them, cover the places where the attachment is fixed with earth and water regularly. After about 1 month, roots will form on the stems buried in soil and should be separated from the general plant.

Cuttings

It is held from the beginning of June to the end of July. The shoots are cut into cuttings 5 ​​cm long with 2-3 nodes and 3-4 leaves on each. They are stuck into a container with moist soil prepared in advance to a depth of approximately 1-1.5 cm at an acute angle. Cover the container with film and place it in a warm place protected from bright sunlight. Once a day, the polyethylene is removed for ventilation. After about 1 month, the cuttings begin to grow, which indicates their rooting. Now they can be transplanted into open ground in the shade. They are moved to a permanent place next spring.

Problems during cultivation

Violet, like many plants, is susceptible to various diseases and pest attacks. The table below shows the most common ones.

Horned violet is not only a beautiful and unpretentious flower, but it is also successfully used in cooking. Fragrant flowers give salads, desserts, and yoghurts an exquisite, unusual taste and beautiful appearance. They are candied, frozen in ice cubes, and used to decorate various treats.