Outdoors column: Violets of different colors bloom in spring

Chicago Tribune

29-04-2025

Roses are red. Violets are blue. But sometimes they can be yellow, too. Or even white.
Roughly 20 species of violets grow in Illinois, and many have heart-shaped leaves with five petals on blooms rising just a few inches above the ground.
Walking Wright Woods the other day while admiring trout lilies, spring beauties and hepaticas, I noted some common violets, the blue ones. These are often called dooryard violets and the Latin name is viola sororia. These native violets readily reseed and can take over your lawn.
They grow profusely in my lawn, and I welcome them as a nice native alternative to Kentucky blue grass. Christopher Enroth, horticulture educator for the University of Illinois Extension Services, says the common blue violet is his favorite 'weed.'
A 'weed' is often defined as a plant that's out of place, whether it's native or not. While some think common blue violets are native to Illinois, others consider them weeds. Enroth knows homeowners who battle common blue violets on their lawns, but he grows them on purpose.
'Violets have been a great addition to my yard,' he writes on his blog. 'In spring they bloom beautiful violet to blue flowers. Some flowers even emerge white. Within the species, there is a lot of variability. Some leaves are smooth and hairless, while other plants have rough hairy leaves.'
Enroth says if you are sure what you have in your yard are common blue violets, and you don't use pesticides, you might consider adding the flowers and leaves to salads. A half-cup of violet leaves can contain as much vitamin C as three oranges, he said.
I only find the blue violets in my yard, but each spring I happen upon one or two very small clumps of yellow violets. At Wright Woods the other day, I saw some heart-shaped leaves with yellow blooms upon which thin, purplish veins emanated halfway up the flower's throat.
Those veins are found on many violet species, possibly as a way to lead pollinators to the flower's nectar. I also discovered a larger clump of yellow violets at Ryerson Woods.
Lake Forest College has a website mentioning various native Illinois flowers, including the downy yellow violet, which it says, 'is ubiquitous all through central and northern Illinois.' A lookalike, called the hairy violet, according to another expert is, 'occasional in northern Illinois, while in the rest of the state it is apparently absent.' I'm guessing my yellow violets were the downy yellows.
The flowers of some violet species can be fragrant, and have been used as a perfume substitute at the turn of the 20th century. The flowers attract myriad insects, including several species of native bees which sip the nectar and transfer pollen.
Species of fritillary butterflies lay their eggs on violets. When caterpillars hatch, they eat the violet's leaves at night to escape predators such as birds. Cottontail rabbits eat the leaves and stems of some violet species. I'd much rather see a rabbit eat violets in my yard than the new American plum tree I just planted.
Mourning doves and white-footed mice eat violet seeds. Ants also take violet seeds to their young at the nest. I don't worry about the ants in my yard because woodpeckers, called northern flickers, live in the neighborhood, and they eat lots of ants.
If you stumble upon a white violet, you are lucky indeed. The Canada violet, which is white, not purple or yellow, is endangered in Illinois. The only place you might find it in the state is along wooded bluffs or in somewhat wet woodlands in northwestern Illinois.
Occasionally, you may come across a white-colored violet in your outdoor forays, but unless you know exactly how to identify a Canada violet, it's likely an aberrant white-colored blue violet.
Another less common violet species in Illinois is the bird's foot violet. It prefers dry, shallow soil and has lilac to deep purple hues. Its deeply lobed leaves are said to look like a bird's foot. One place to find this rarity is on dry, sandy soils in northeastern Illinois, for example, at Illinois Beach State Park. Like other violet species, the bird's foot blooms in spring.
More than a century ago, Illinois school children named the violet as Illinois's state flower. I think they chose well because violets are native to Illinois, as well as beneficial to humans and wildlife. Some, like the common blue violet, are plentiful and lovely to see blooming in spring.