Viola 'Better Times'
Viola 'Better Times'• Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• perennial viola
• flowering season: spring and again in fall; where summers are not too hot it will flower all summer
• height: 4 to 6 inches
• Light requirements: strong light but partial shade during the hottest part of the afternoon
• Soil requirements: average to rich
• Water requirments: average
• Growth habit: grows as a clump
• How to propagate: divide in early to mid-spring; rarely sets seeds
• Leaf type: round, medium green leaves
• Ways to use it: the large clear yellow flowers of 'Better Times' can really light up your garden; it would be happy near the front edge of a flower garden, or to edge a walkway; it also grows well in a container with other lplants or by itself
• Special characteristics: dead-heading the flowers is only necessary if you need everything absolutely neat and tidy; occasionally triming the growth back by about half will keep a plant from becoming too floppy
• Other points of interests, such as historically: this particular plant, named 'Better Times' goes back to the era of the Great Depression
These Violas are charming, old fashioned perennials, suitable for the front of the border, rock garden or for naturalizing in a woodland garden. With showy flowers resembling pansies, they come in a wide range of colors. Heaviest flowering occurs in spring, diminishes during the hot summer months, and often resumes again in fall when temperatures cool. Along the coast from Northern California into Canada they will flower continuously through summer. Cut plants back by half after first flowering to encourage new growth and a second flush of bloom. These fragile looking plants are in fact, quite sturdy. They like afternoon shade and moist, well drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Plants benefit from a summer mulch to conserve soil moisture.
We offer several of these long-lived perennial Violas in a range of colors. They have long been appreciated by gardeners in the U.K. however are not well known in the U.S. Although they closely resemble pansies, they are much better, by the facts that they are truly perennial and often have a sweet, strong fragrance. A trait of theirs is to grow as a clump of rooted shoots. It is very easy to produce additional new plants by digging up an older plant and gently pulling apart these rooted stems and replanting several from what had been one plant. Each of these little pieces will grow into a thick clump of rooted shoots of their own. They do not set seeds and then die like a pansy does.
The flowers of this viola, 'Better Times,' are a pure, lemon yellow. It is an old variety dating back to the era of the Great Depression. Lamb Nurseries in Spokane, Washington kept this variety from disappearing from the scene for many years. Has very large, round flowers and is very sweetly scented. Cold hardy to USDA Zone 4.