Fran Boninti: Host of highly-enjoyed tour of her home garden in Spring 2021; longtime valued contributor to PMG activities/initiatives.
Why my Favorite: What’s not to like?! They’re a beautiful color in blues, violets, whites, yellows, pink, and double/tri colors. They have a sense of humor, looking you straight in the eye with a clown-like face. Superb ground cover, keeping your soil cool in summer as well as keeping many weeds at bay. Host to the larvae of the Fritillary butterfly. No violets, no Fritillary. A patch of violets is breathtaking. There are MANY varieties a collector can choose from. Many just show up = Free! Pollinators adore them. The first thing mason bees head to when they emerge is violets.
Growing Tips: Yes, they can get pretty rambunctious. I apologize to them and yank them out when I need to. They get it. Some are rhizomatous, some are fibrous-rooted. An example of a fibrous rooted violet is V. striata. After it blooms in spring with its delicate white flowers, it’s best to refresh it by cutting it back down to the ground. A rhizomatous variety is V. sororia (most common in your lawn). If you’re interested in collecting, a source for unusual violets is the North American Rock Garden Society.
That you blow so sweet?
Among the violets
Which blossom at your feet.
The honeysuckle waits
For Summer and for heat.
But violets in the chilly Spring
Make the turf so sweet.
Melanie Feldman, Piedmont Master Gardener Program Assistant
Favorite Plant: Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Why my favorite? One thing that I do not like about Virginia is our dull, grey winter. The clouds move in and the sky is mostly impenetrable by the sun for three months. In the middle of that dreary season, the yellow blooms of winter jasmine lay signs of life on our landscape. I like to think that Mother Nature is reminding us that winter is almost over and slowly she begins to awaken the various flowering plants. There’s hope for the arrival of spring! And we get to enjoy a lovely flowering plant at the dragging end of winter. It is also great for people who are sensitive to fragrant blooms. It might be a jasmine, but it does not have a strong scent like other plants in the Olive family. I also think the leaves are just adorable. Small and trifoliate with deep green color that matches the stem. This is a wonderful landscape plant to add year-round appeal to your yard! You can grow them up trellises, shape into hedges or mounding shrubs, and even cascade the plant over walls and structure. It is so versatile!
Growing tips? Winter jasmine is one of the easiest and happiest little growers. They are great for slopes and areas where you wish to prevent soil erosion. Every spring, prune into shape after flowering and that’s all! It is virtually pest- and disease-free!! As I mentioned above, you can get creative with this plant, due to its various growth habits. The only con is that as stems grow out and curl downward, they can re-root very efficiently and will slowly produce plants that can get as large as the mother plant. Stay on top of your pruning and enjoy those lovely winter blooms!
