Viola Laeta Wine seeds - Viola cornuta

Viola cornuta 'Laeta Wine', also known as Horned Violet or Horned Pansy, produces small flowers, the size of a coin, in a beautiful and simple purple shade. Its transparent petals are tinted with a plum-purple, barely veined with black, and feature a tiny yellow eye. It pairs well with spring bulbs and autumn asters in the garden, creating lovely pots. This small biennial plant thrives in humus-bearing soil, in partial shade or under filtered sunlight, where it spreads its carpet of dark, evergreen foliage. Its edible flowers bring a touch of refined elegance to pastries.

Belonging to the violet family, the horned violet, which grows wild in the Pyrenees, is a low perennial plant that has given rise to numerous hybrids, the most famous being the horticultural pansies. The 'Laeta Wine' variety is a spreading herbaceous plant, 10 to 15 cm tall when in flower, with dark green, ovate, scalloped, evergreen leaves that form a spreading tuft. Depending on the sowing date, this plant blooms from spring to autumn. Its flowers are quite round, resembling those of pansies, but their petals are arranged differently. The top two petals are upright, while the other three are downward-facing. It spreads quite rapidly thanks to its rhizomes and readily self-seeds in the garden.

Horned violets are ideal for borders, shaded rockeries, the front of low beds and pots and planters on balconies and terraces. They can be combined with other low spring plants such as Forget-Me-Nots, Primroses, Botanical Tulips, Daisies, and small Daffodils. In autumn, they complement the blooming of Asters.

The flowers of horned violets are edible, so you can decorate your plates with one or two flowers, or even add some to your salads for a splash of colour.