Viola odorata.

Varieties

The best are Neapolitan, double pale blue; Russian, blue; Tree Violet, semi-double, blue, stem eighteen inches high. Double Blue; White; Pink.

Soil

All the varieties prefer a light rich soil on a well drained subsoil. Stable manure makes them too luxuriant; and when they require the addition of a fertilizer, none is so beneficial as leaf-mould, or the bottom of an old wood stack.

Propagation. By Division, Etc

They all multiply by parting the roots, and by their side shoots rooting in the earth. They may be parted or slipped in spring, summer, or autumn, as soon as they have done flowering, in moist weather. Each plant may be slipped or divided into several slips, not too small; and planted either at once to remain, or the weakest may be planted in nursery beds; and in either method each slip will soon increase into a large tuft, and flower abundantly the next year.

By Seed

Sow it either soon after it is ripe, or early in the spring, in a bed or border of light earth, and raked in; and when the plants are come up an inch or two high in summer, prick them out in a shady border to grow till October, and then plant out to remain.

Pink Violets

The best time to plant them is in September, but they should be planted in a dry situation, and not fully exposed to the sun at any part of the day. The principal points to attend to are, never to disturb them by clearing or digging about them, and always to plant them in a shaded place.

Russian And Neapolitan Violets

There are two double varieties of the Russian, the purple and the white. At the close of autumn, in a rich yet light soil, some year-old plants of each variety should be planted, some in a bor-der which is exposed to the full meridian sun; some in a border which only receives its morning rays; and a third quantity in pots on a north border. The only attention they require is to keep them free from weeds, and to remove all runners as they appear. These will bloom in succession from March until the end of May; and if those in pots in the north border are prevented from blooming by having their flower-buds picked off as they appear until late in May, and are then plunged in the border which enjoys the morning sun, they will, if carefully watered and attended, bloom in June and early in July. The double purple may be most successfully cultivated in this way. For forcing, Mr. Ayres directs some year-old plants of the Neapolitan varieties to be taken up after having done flowering, and planted in a light rich border, a foot apart each way, care being taken to remove all runners, but to injure the roots as little as possible. A copious watering is to be given at the time of planting; they should be shaded through the summer, and all runners removed as they appear.

In September, the Neapolitans with good balls of earth are to be placed in forty-eight or thirty-two size pots, and removed into a gentle hot-bed, and protected by a frame. If air be admitted freely and the heat be kept up very gently, these may be brought to bloom in February. Another mode of making the Neapolitan violet bloom during the winter is to plant some of the runners at the end of April, in small pots filled chiefly with leaf-mould, watering them until rooted, and then moving them to a cold shaded place, as the north side of a wall - the colder the better. In October bring them under the sunny side of the green-house, or into an empty frame to be closed at night, and then move them the second week in December into a sunny window or green-house. They will bloom in January, and for some months after, by having a proper succession.

Dr. Lindley says - "To have Russian violets in flower during winter, you must treat them in the following manner: as soon as they have done flower- ing, about March, sift a little light soil over them, and encourage their growth as much as possible, to obtain early Strong rooted runners from the old plants, which if properly managed will be about the end of May. Transplant the young runners into a nursery-bed in a rather shaded but not confined situation. The soil should be fresh sandy loam and peat, with a small portion of leaf-mould, but by no means made rich with dung, as that causes the plants to grow too vigorously. About the beginning of August prepare a place for their final reception, an old cucumber or melon bed will do well, taking away the soil from the frame, and filling the place with a mixture of good loam and sandy peat, adding about one quarter of well rotted cow-dung to it, well water the whole, and let it remain for a few days to settle. After this remove the young plants from the nursery-bed with good balls, and plant them in rows about six or nine inches apart each way, and afterwards place the lights on for a few days until the plants recover the shift.

They will afterwards require no further trouble except watering and keeping free from slugs and weeds, which must be attended to. When the weather becomes cold in the autumn, the lights must be put on during the night, and in rough wet weather; and finally the violets must be well protected from frost during winter, by covering them at all times when the weather will permit, to prevent their damping off. Treated in this way, they will then flower freely from December to February. They may also be potted and cultivated in the same manner, and when in flower may be planted in the green-house; but they will not bloom during the winter, if exposed to the inclemency of the weather, or if in a damp situation." - Gard. Chron.

Water should only be applied to them when they really want it, and then it should be given freely, and early in the morning, so that the plants may have plenty of time to dry before the frame is closed.

Tree Violet

This requires to be potted in a mixture of peat and sandy loam, and requires no further attention than to be kept in a shady part of a green-house; supplying it plentifully with water and air.