Viola flowers come in an absolute riot of colours and flower over several months. All the flowers turn to face the sun which produces a charming effect.
They are well suited to cooler weather and indeed will need watering in hot weather.
If you deadhead them you will increase flower production and they are a really easy flower to keep.
They are perfectly happy in any pot or container of at least 1 litre volume. I grow them in troughs, hanging baskets and beds.
They can be used as edible flowers although they dont really taste of very much, but have a huge visual impact on the plate or in a salad.
Although they are annuals, you will find that they self seed readily so if you leave them in a bed several months you should find small plants coming up after the larger ones are ready for taking out.
They seem to cross quite readily and if you save the seed pods for the following year you will have a surprise of colours and patterns arising up.
Note that the seed is extremely tiny, so I would suggest sowing them into a very fine compost or seedbed, covering only with a couple of milimetres of substrate and making sure the top stays moist until germination.
