Reflection's Flora and Fauna
A collection of my photos of flora and fauna, and maybe now and then,
something else that catches my attention and just will not let go.
Maybe even with little verbage, which is pretty hard for this gal.



Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Johnny Jump Ups, a Viola That Makes Me Smile


I wanted to see if I could find the botanical name, and found myself in the middle of a controversy. This web site, calls it Viola cornuta (Violaceae), citing it's source as Wildseed Farms, near Fredericksburg, Texas.  Wikipedia calls it, Heartsease (Viola tricolor), but there are detractors, see the discussion page, where someone claims, heartease is just bi-coloured.  Acknowledging the weaknesses of Wikipedia, and personally having had visited Wildseed Farms, I am gonna have to go with Wildseed on this one. 

Of further interest is the comment from Wildflower Information.org, which states Johnny is not invasive.  I planted Johnny Jumpups here well over 10 years ago.  It no longer grows where I planted it.  It "pops up" all over the property now.  I have loners in the flower beds surrounding the house, here and there.  This photo was taken down by the pond, and currently is the largest group of Johnny's I have.  

My Johnny Jump Ups continue to spread around the yard, delighting me with their small jolt of color.  They are what I call "volunteers", as they volunteer here and there, where ever they feel they are "needed". 

They always make me smile.

3 comments:

Barbara Poole said...

Me too, I'm smiling.

Linda Hughes Hiser said...

They are one of my favs! Always so cute.

Greta Koehl said...

Love them - they just exploded here this spring for us. I have some that are purple and orange in the planter part of my birdbath, and I'm thinking the little cards referred to them as "viola cornuta," but I'm not sure.