Love, love, love violets! The little dark purple ones that come out early in the spring are my favorites, but only get a few in the front yard by the road. They always smelled like grape Kool-Aid to me. Those are viola odorata, the official violet, as far as I am concerned. They are super high in vitamin C, which is why you'll often catch a faint smell of oranges around them. The old-timers would eat the early leaves in salads, I believe I've read, as well as the blossoms as a spring tonic.You can make a cough and flavoring syrup from them if you have enough, as well as jelly. Alas, I don't have enough.

Also, there are white violets that come out a little after the purple ones. Those I have a lot of but they aren't good for jellies and syrups, I don't think. They grow in my "herb garden", which is mostly lemon balm, white violets and mint. When my kiddoes were little that was also the bouquet of choice for their teachers in the spring, instead of the tulips and daffodils. I guess the smell appealed to my kids and apparently to their teachers, because a couple of them came and got pieces of lemon balm and mint for their gardens. Violets being what they are, I'm sure those went along.

I cannot, however, grow Johnny Jump-Ups. My mom had thousands of them, but I can't get them started here. Those are viola tricolor, I believe. If it is viola tricolor, those were also known as heartsease, is that a cute name?

I also have a perennial violet that my mom called "summer violets". They spread by root corms instead of seed. Those have no scent and we weed most of them out. They are pretty-ish but kind of useless.

Another interesting fact: True violets have a little blossom underneath that never really opens up. That is the seed for next year and it is spread by movement. In other words, when you pick violets, you are helping to re-seed them, so if you have a good patch, don't be afraid to pick away.