Viola cornuta Helen Mount Seeds

The small horned violet or Johnny jump-up Helen Mount, also called Viola cornuta (x) tricolor Helen Mount, blooms abundantly for months on end, smothering their cushions of dark green foliage with multi-coloured blooms. The flowers come in a delightful blend of almost-black purple, yellow and violet and their lower petals are marked with a charming, little dark blotch. They are fantastic biennial plants for borders, the front of flower beds, and container displays. These small plants can be grown in humus-rich soil, in partial shade or dappled shade.

Belonging to the family Violaceae, horned pansy or horned violet which grows wild in the Pyrenees, is a low-lying perennial plant that has engendered many hybrids. Often cross-bred with Viola tricolor (wild pansy), their most famous descendants are garden pansies. The 'Helen Mount' variety, from which it is derived, is a herbaceous, spreading plant that reach 10 to 15 cm in height when in bloom. Its dark green, oval, crenate evergreen leaves form a vase-shaped, spreading clump. Depending on the date of sowing, this plant will cover itself with flowers from spring to autumn. The yellow flowers feature black whiskers that spread from the centres to the ends of the petals. The edges of the petals are marked with purple and violet blotches. They look like the common pansy flower except that their petals are arranged differently. The top two are upright while the other three are angled downwards. It spreads quite quickly with its rhizomes and easily self-seeds in the garden without always faithfully reproducing the traits of their parents.

Horned violets are meant for decorating low-lying beds, borders, pots and balcony planters, where they can be combined with other spring and summer flowering plants (forget-me-nots, dwarf daffodils, common daisies, primroses, botanical tulips, summer and autumn asters). The flowers of the horned violets are edible, so don't hesitate to decorate your plates with one or two flowers, or to use them to add a touch of colour to your salads.