Viola odorata 'Duchesse de Parme'
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Viola odorata 'Duchesse de Parme'• Click here to visit our Main Plant List page for current availability of this plant
• common name: Parma violet
• flowering season: early spring with a second bloom in autumn
• height: 3 to 6 inches
• Light requirements: partial shade or morning sunlight
• Soil requirements: average garden soil that is well drained
• Water requirments: average water requirements; grows best in soil that doesn't thoroughly dry out in summer
• Growth habit: a low growing plant that spreads by runners
• How to propagate: severing the runner of a younger plant and replanting it
• Leaf type: heart shaped, small to medium sized leaves
• Ways to use it: to naturalize on the shady side of a house or as a groundcover in a shady garden
• Special characteristics: this double flowered violet rarely produces seeds, although it spreads by runners
This Parma violet has a fragrance as good or better than any florist's flower. But don't take my word for - see for yourself. 'Duchesse de Parme' originated in 1870 and is said to be the easiest Parma violet to grow. In America it has been one of the easier Parmas to find in recent years. Its fully double flowers are a violet blue, with creamy white closer to the center. It makes a charming tussie mussie or petite bouquet, with its six-inch stems. Its season is late winter into early spring, and again in early fall. Hardy to +20°F without cover, or slightly colder with protection such as a mulch or snow cover.
We rely on the book, Violets, the History & Cultivation of Scented Violets, written by Roy E. Coombs and published in 1981 for the naming of our Parma violets and other Viola odorata.