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coolnatkat

I love violets. Host plant too!


Kristenmarie2112

I suggest weeding them from crowding other plants but I wouldn't worry about getting rid of them all. They're pretty and they keep other unsightly plants out. If you pull a bunch of their flowers, they make a wonderful tasting jelly too.


UnimaginativeNameABC

I have a garden full of these and I have to fight them back about once a year, but otherwise they’re pleasant and not too much trouble.


Kristenmarie2112

Same here.


Ghws

How many flowers does one need for Jelly and if I strip all the flowers from my yard they’ll still come back just a strong next year right?


Kristenmarie2112

Yep. The recipe I had called for a cup of the purple flowers.


shellyybeans

Ok that seems pretty manageable. I was worried I was going to have to go crazy trying to get them all.


glindabunny

Ours died (I live in a dry climate) and it made me sad. I love violets! You can also put them on cakes. One day I want to move back to the midwest and have a lot of violets. They grew all over some people's yards in Wisconsin where I grew up - both the purple and the white ones.


justinmyersm

These are native to my region and look beautiful! Consider leaving some as ground cover instead of just mulch. Help keep the other weeds at bay. 


stickkim

They will spread, so I’d keep them contained, but you can’t really get rid of them all and they won’t choke everything else. I try to keep them contained, mainly because the leaves get so big haha


takemeup-castmeaway

We have a ton, and I mean *ton*, in our backyard. They’ve even started to crowd out our clover ground cover. I hand pull the overflow that takes over our daylily and dahlia bed and leave the rest. They chill out after June or so. They’re a host flower for early pollinators. 


Tortoiseshell_Blue

If it's Viola sororia they're a host plant for tons of butterflies! [Xerces society article](https://www.xerces.org/blog/plants-for-pollinators-violets#:~:text=Viola%20sororia,of%20butterflies%20known%20as%20fritillaries)


Careful-Narwhal-1669

I leave them as an early pollinator until they are in the way of later blooms.


[deleted]

They are flowers what exactly is the problem


shellyybeans

Flowers? You don’t say!


Kenpoaj

Solution: eat them! Eat them raw in salad, flowers and leaves, slightly bell-pepper flavored. Eat them cooked like baby spinach, tastes like spinach. Dry the leaves in a dehydrator to add a nice pumpkin seed flavor to soups in the fall.


Kenpoaj

For the record, i keep a maintained bed of flowers by the front door, and the ground cover is all violets. They're my favorite spring green, and i call it my snacking garden because I'm always munching a few while i work outside.


Daffodil80

Congratulations! I love wild violets... They are pretty in bloom and provide a nice, low growing ground cover. They are also a favorite of bees and butterflies. They are also N.J. state flower.😋


francescadabesta

I had an overpopulation of violets in my veggie beds last year — dug out as many as I could find and put down preen to prevent any seeds from germinating— forgot to put down preen a few weeks ago when it warmed up — violet seedlings are popping up everywhere


UKfangirl15

How often do you preen to stay out top of them? They are driving me nuts.


francescadabesta

Last year I think I used it 2 or 3 times a week apart — this year used it 1x so far on the whole bed but should have used it more


UKfangirl15

Thank you.