We’ve collected together pictures of the violets we grow and ranked them by scent,  (it’s a dirty job but someone has to do it)., so that you can compare them side by side.

Viola odorata ‘Rosea’

  • This is the most fragrant of all with an intoxicating sweet aroma. It is fairly dense and free flowering.
Viola odorata 'Rosea'

Viola odorata ‘Rosea’

Viola odorata ‘Rosea’ is a Rosy pink form of our native sweet violet and is the most fragrant of all with an intoxicating sweet aroma. It is fairly dense and free flowering, growing a dense clump of fresh green leaves to 20cm. Flowers from Nov to Apr. Grows in shade or sun, but prefers a  cool moist soil.

Viola odorata

  • The species with its rich dark purple flowers is next. The scent is strong and the growth is dense and vigorous
Viola odorata

Viola odorata

Viola odorata is our native sweet violet. Dense clumps of fresh green leaves to 20cm; and many sweetly scented flowers with a rich deep violet colouring from Nov to Apr. Grows in shade or sun, but prefers a cool position in moist soil.

Sweet Violet is native throughout Europe including the British Isles where it is the only fragrant violet.

Viola ‘Baronne Alice de Rothschild’

  • A selected form close to the native sweet violet
Viola 'Baronne Alice de Rothschild'

Viola ‘Baronne Alice de Rothschild’

For the most part this variety is very similar to our native Viola odorata, though it does have particularly richly coloured flowers and reliably a very good scent.

Viola ‘Rebecca’

    • A lovely fragrant hybrid Viola
Viola 'Rebecca'

Viola ‘Rebecca’

Compact hybrid viola with a long flowering season from Spring through Summer. This is one of the lovely Violetta group of violets. They form really tight hummocks of foliage and throughout their long they season are absolutely covered in outward facing pansy-like flowers with a delicious fragrance. Think of them like a perennial pansy that’s been to finishing school. Rebecca has a base colour of cream, shaded lemon on the lowest petal with a rich yellow eye. Each petal is then shaded to pale lilac with the edges flecked mauve. Heavily scented. Any good soil.

Viola ‘Cordelia’

  • With a habit that is similar to the species, possibly a bit less dense, ‘Cordelia’ has a lovely rich Parma Violet scent.
Viola 'Cordelia'

Viola ‘Cordelia’

A lovely blush pink violet with a darker ‘horn’ and stronger rose shading on the reverse. Relatively large wide open flowers. Good scent.

Viola ‘Melanie’

  • Fragrant and a stunning colour
Viola 'Melanie'

Viola ‘Melanie’

(Viola ‘Katja’). It’s hard to resist the charm ( and perfume ) of the humble viola. But if you are looking for something a bit different, forget papal purple, this Viola is the richest Catholic Bishop Pink you’ll come across. Deep and extravagent with a delightful silver edge. It is floriferous, doesn’t fade and has an intoxicating fragrance. i couldn’t resist it – the colou stands out so zingingly.

Viola ‘Lydia Groves’

  • Excellent pink that holds its colour
Viola 'Lydia Groves'

Viola ‘Lydia Groves’

Wide open-faced, large flowers of rich sugar pink with little flecks of even richer pink which are only obvious when observed closely, which is a treat in itself as it is very richly scented. Unlike some pink violets the colour holds well as the flowers age and they don’t discolour badly. Floriferous and a little charmer for the spring garden.

Viola ‘Reine des Neiges’

  • A lovely little violet with a dual personality
Viola 'Reine des Neiges' ( violet )

Viola ‘Reine des Neiges’ ( violet )

(‘Queen of Snow’) This variety is for the most part pure white on neat compact plants, though early on flowers can have a distinctive blue rinse. This is one of the longest flowering violets and has a good scent. Clive Groves assumes this violet to be a sport of Konigin Charlotte as it takes on the characteristic upward facing flowers.

Viola odorata ‘Mrs R Barton’

  • Free flowering with purple splashed white flowers, this violet has a scent that is great, but a little less strong than those above.
Viola odorata 'Mrs R Barton'

Viola odorata ‘Mrs R Barton’

Bred by Windward Nurseries in 1930. Large white flowers flecked with purple on long stems. A vigorous form creating carpets of heart-shaped leaves and generous quantities of variously spotted and streaked flowers. In cooler weather the purple seems more intense and can even give the petals a watercolour wash of purple. Medium scent. Good to grow in shade and in dry spots under trees.

Viola odorata ‘Rosea’ pale form

  • This is a good free flowering variety, but lacks some of the scent of its darker cousin. Flowers are quite straight sided, giving a distinctive appearance. growth dense and short.
Viola odorata 'Rosea' pale form

Viola odorata ‘Rosea’ pale form

A pale pink form of our native sweet violet. Dense clumps of fresh green leaves to 20cm; and many very highly scented narrow flowers from Nov to Apr. Grows in shade or sun. Prefers a moist soil

Viola odorata ‘Irish Elegance’

  • This lovely little violet is low growing and does not mound. Its charm comes form the unusual ochre cream shade of its flowers – quite unusual in this species. Unfortunately the colour comes with the price of a poor scent.
Viola odorata 'Irish Elegance'

Viola odorata ‘Irish Elegance’

Viola odorata ‘Irish Elegance’, a lovely little violet is low growing and does not mound. Its charm comes form the unusual ochre cream shade of its flowers – quite unusual in this species. Unfortunately the colour comes with the price of a poor scent. 20cm. Sun or part Shade, November to April

Viola odorata ‘Bournemouth Gem’

  • This variety has huge flowers as it was bred for the cutting market. However, in the process of enlarging the flowers much of the scent was lost. Growth is altogether stiffer and stronger than the species.
Viola odorata 'Bournemouth Gem'

Viola odorata ‘Bournemouth Gem’

A selection of our native sweet violet bred especially to produce violets for the trade in cut flower posies. The flowers are exceptionally large with an open wide form and are borne on long stems above the partially evergreen foliage. Unfortunately the price of the large flowers is that the scent has been largely lost from this variety. It grows in much more open clumps than Viola odorata and has distinctive veined, heart-shaped leaves which are a litle glossy. Grows in shade or sun. Prefers a moist soil

Non Scented Violets

Viola cornuta

  • This is the wild form of the horned violet.
Viola cornuta

Viola cornuta

Viola cornuta are smashing little violets, not only for the copious rich violet blue flowers produced in Early Summer, but for the generous cushions of bright evergreen foliage. Lovely ground cover for sun or partial shade. When the flowers finally fade, trim the cliumps and they will reward you with a second crop.

Viola cornuta Alba Group

  • The pure white form of this species.
Viola cornuta Alba Group

Viola cornuta Alba Group

Horned Violet. The pure white flowers are produced in a very long succession from spring onwards. Trim to improve shape Spreads underground to form dense hummocks

Viola cornuta ‘Victoria’s Blush’

  • A lovely pink form of horned violet.
Viola-cornuta-Victorias-Blush-(1)

Viola cornuta ‘Victoria’s Blush’ has the same charming little flowers as Viola cornuta but in a lovely shade of pink with darket bee lines.

Viola cornuta ‘Ulla’

  • The darkest of the cornutas
Viola cornuta 'Ulla'

Viola cornuta ‘Ulla’

A very large flowered, dark purple hybrid with a flower that is heading towards a pansy in size.

Viola riviniana Purpurea Group ( Viola labradorica )

  • A free seeding, free spreading purple leaved violet
Viola riviniana Purpurea Group ( Viola labradorica )

Viola riviniana Purpurea Group ( Viola labradorica )

This is an excellent edging plant, its dark purple leaves forming an excellent foil for its own violet flowers as well as those of many other perennials. It spreads well to cover the ground and I’ve seen it looking lovely running along the base of a wall and along the edges of a set of stone steps. This is the dark purple leaved form of our native wood violet. It is easily pleased and will grow in sun or shade in a wide range of soil types.