The cooler days and changing colors that October brings us usher in the autumn season, where violets take pride of place in the garden or on the terrace, lending a vibrant chromatic accent and a touch of elegance to your green spaces.
Let’s take a look at some of the main species and varieties available.
Viola cornuta (Horned pansy)
A small ornamental herbaceous plant, up to 15 cm tall, prized for its lush blooms, appearing from early autumn until late spring with a profusion of small flowers in varying shades depending on the variety. Perennial, it is often grown as an annual or biennial.
Its compact growth and rounded shape make it perfect for landscaping in flowerbeds or borders, as well as for decorating balconies and terraces in planters or pots, even in combination with other species. Resistant to low winter temperatures, it can add a splash of color during periods when other plants are often dormant.
Suitable for full sun or light shade, it expresses its best vegetative development and full flowering in medium-textured, draining soils with plenty of organic matter, while if grown in pots it requires a light substrate based on peat and perlite.
Below are some of the main varieties of Viola cornuta
SUPERBA® MINI (PENNY) PRIMROSE PICOTEE
Highly branched, compact, and uniform. Early, it produces abundant flowers with yellow petals with dark streaks and purple edges that completely cover the foliage, making it suitable for both fall and spring production, without the need for vernalization to flower. Due to its ability to flower continuously even in the coldest periods and under snow, it is one of the most popular varieties in landscaping as well as for decorating balconies and windowsills.
SUPERBA® MINI (PENNY) DELFT BLUE
Like the previous variety, it belongs to the SUPERBA MINI series, which stands out for its great uniformity among the different colors, as well as for its development, height, and early flowering. The Superba mini Delft Blue viola is one of the most elegant colors among the horned pansies, reminiscent of Delftware pottery. It is characterized by abundant and continuous flowering throughout the autumn-winter period. It can be transplanted as early as late summer with the change of season, to brighten flowerbeds or balconies even during the coldest months and well into spring.
Compact and vigorous, it forms dense cushions dotted with flowers with white and dark pink petals, lending elegance and refinement to vases as well as along garden borders.
Suitable for autumn flowerbeds, even with other varieties of violet, forming monochromatic spots in succession of at least 50/70 cm per colour, or with herbaceous species such as Myosotis sylvatica which flowers both in autumn and spring.
Viola x wittrockiana (Garden Pansy)
Commonly called “Pansy”, it is a small herbaceous plant that can reach a height of 20/25 cm with flowers composed of two overlapping upper petals, two lateral petals and a large lower petal.
It represents one of the most interesting choices both for the wide assortment of colors available and for the long flowering period, which manifests itself in a profusion of highly decorative flowers for decorating flowerbeds, terraces and hanging baskets on windowsills where it will add an elegant chromatic note even during the coldest months, from autumn to spring.
Among the available varieties we remember:
Belonging to the MATRIX series, it is compact and well-branched, blooming simultaneously with weather-resistant flowers that are larger than other varieties and bright yellow with dark spots in the center for a highly decorative contrasting color effect. Suitable for landscaping, but also in pots and tubs on balconies and terraces.
It performs very well in flowerbeds, showing its best development when planted in October, during which the still bright days and mild temperatures allow for excellent vegetative recovery with rapid coverage of the ground to provide a carpet of flowers throughout the autumn period.
SUPERBA® BASKET MORPHO (COOL WAVE)
Varieties from the Superba Basket series are designated as trailing pansies, perfect for adding long-lasting color to your balcony, from mid-autumn until the first warm days of spring. Very vigorous and with a trailing habit, they mature to a height of 60-80 cm. Highly ornamental results are achieved by arranging several plants side by side in trays, allowing them to create a dense cascade of foliage dotted with numerous flowers with yellow lower petals and fringed purple upper petals.
For lush and prolonged flowering, an east or south exposure is recommended, belonging to a series that tolerates any drought well.
Also suitable for growing in flowerbeds or borders for those who want a viola with greater development both in length and width, thus allowing the use of a smaller number of plants per square meter.
Superba GP violets belong to a series characterized by great uniformity in growth, height, and early flowering. The Marina variety is in line with the others in the series and can also be grown in color mixes.
Compact, with a round, uniform crown, it produces numerous flowers simultaneously from early autumn to late spring, borne on short stems that are more resistant to adverse weather conditions such as rain and wind. Despite being a large-flowered violet, it is adept at blooming even during the darkest periods of winter and is not affected by brief frosts, making it ideal for landscaping, where it performs very well, adding color to public parks and private gardens during the coldest season.
The best time for planting is October, when the temperature and light conditions allow for an adequate vegetative recovery followed by full flowering that continues throughout the winter, with a slight decline if the minimum temperatures drop below -3/- 4°C for a few days.
Also suitable for planters, pots and trays where it grows rapidly after transplanting, providing continuous flowering from autumn to spring if exposed to the south on a balcony.
The Superba Big series of violets is distinguished by its larger flowers (8-11 cm in diameter), carried on sturdy stems that rise above the round, compact crown. Suitable for flowerbeds and balconies, they become an attractive focal point even when seen from afar during the flowering season, which lasts from early autumn to late spring.
Even more color: the mixes
For further decorative results we also suggest the following violet mixes
CATS violas are characterized by a pronounced veining of the petals in the different colors of the mix, making them unique and distinct from all other violas. Suitable for both flowerbeds and tubs and containers, they bloom from early fall to late winter.
The medium-flowered (4/6 cm) RADIANCE viola is a series composed of imaginative and unusual colours for violets: two-tone, often edged and shaded with yellow-red or pink tones or more or less intense or pastel blue and yellow.
Compact and uniform enough for a mix, they are perfect for complementing traditional violet colors and for landscaping. They can be transplanted in flowerbeds or on balconies in early fall to provide color throughout winter and spring, thanks to their ability to bloom continuously during the coldest periods. They can be used as spots in flowerbeds with single-colored Viola cornuta varieties, white or yellow, with or without eyes.
Xpress violas belong to a series characterised by great growth speed and uniformity between the different colours, even in flowering.
The Superba Xpress viola, very compact and well-branched, is one of the fastest growing varieties once transplanted into a flowerbed or container. It’s a large-flowered variety suitable for landscaping. Its dense, rounded crown produces numerous flowers at once on short stems, making it more resistant to rain and wind.
It can be transplanted both in autumn and spring.
The Superba GP violet mix, although very varied, is characterised by great uniformity between the different colours, both in development, height and earliness of flowering.
Suitable for pots as well as flowerbeds and tubs, with plants that grow rapidly after transplanting, providing continuous flowering from autumn to spring if placed on a south-facing balcony.
The Panola viola is well-branched and compact. It is also precocious and produces numerous flowers, almost covering the canopy. It is a viola with characteristics intermediate between the large-flowered varieties (wittrockiana), which have fewer but larger flowers, and the small-flowered horned violas, which they resemble in their abundance but are much larger.
Due to its ability to bloom continuously even during the coldest and darkest periods, it is one of the most suitable for landscaping, as well as for decorating windowsills. Its resistance to weather, especially rain, is excellent, thanks to the robustness of its petals.
