Violas/Johnny Jump Ups

I planted these Johnny Jump-Ups from seed last year and they were cute little well behaved flowers that were growing nicely between my alpine strawberries. This year they have taken off and are dominating my garden bed. They are actually crowding out all the weeds as well as the strawberries.

They went to seed already a couple weeks ago and this is the second flush of flowers. I'm going to have seeds in this area forever!!

It's a very effective ground cover, at least the second year. I think I will need to plant them elsewhere though because they are killing my strawberries.

I know they are used medicinally as well as for culinary uses. I need to research the specifics and then try those out. The kids have been snacking on the flowers while they eat strawberries.

We have Johnny Jump-Ups growing all over the place in our garden and beds. Colourful, cheerful little dudes! The plants overwinter and seed off as well. If they get in our way we whack them, but otherwise they're just happy ground cover.

I've taken to planting Viola/Johnny Jump Up seeds into the rock edging around my home.



They do VERY well growing in challenging spots and are one of the first flowers that appear in the spring for my growing zone. Also being the first flowers of spring, the greenery tends to outcompete other plants as noticed by Jenny in her post.

So does anyone have recipes they like for eating the leaves? I've been told they're edible.

The flowers are the best bit honestly, nice in salads or just scattered on top of things. Leaves are edible but a bit bland and slightly mucilaginous, not unpleasant but not something I'd go out of my way for. The flowers are worth it though.

I have not eaten any johnny jump ups, however we have lots of wild common violets in our yard. We have eaten salads with violets as the only greenery. Everyone enjoyed it, and has eaten it repeatedly.

It also does well as a side dish, wilted, like you'd do with spinach.

We also toss it in forever soups, but taste wise, it hides there.

I've been wanting these here for a few years. I've never been able to get them to take. This thread inspired me to order some seeds. Alot of seeds. Seeing when my sweet violets were drying their seeds, I sowed some, and they were kept wedded and watered. I still have no plants. Maybe it was already too hot?

I still have an ounce of seed left. Because I expected failures, and I want these!!!

What are your recommendations for getting them started?

Ours just show up early early spring....maybe really late winter?...all over the yard.
I don't know why though....wet, very cool even cold....seems like they bloom well before last frost in April.  I wish I had paid more attention now.  
They are the sweetest little flower though and I always thought they were a wildflower.

I wonder if you need to plant in the fall?

Ours are a pale blue violet and very tiny...

My experience is similar to Judith’s. I spread the seed in the fall and by spring they start to appear. They are one of my earliest spring flowers that I notice.

Mine seem to thrive on abuse and absolute neglect. Could too much love be the problem?

Edit: I wonder if they need cold stratification to germinate? That's the treatment they naturally get here. Maybe throw your seeds in a sealed jar in the freezer for a while?

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:

What are your recommendations for getting them started?

Most wildflowers like being sown in fall or winter. I originally started mine inside during the winter and then transplanted them outside in the spring. From there they just took off and spread on their own. I can't remember if I cold stratified the seeds but my default is to store seeds in the fridge so I probably unintentionally did.