Sweet Violet (Viola Odorata)
Posted: February 15th, 2014, 11:29 am
This elusive perennial is not known to many people and makes an ideal groundcover for shaded areas bearing vibrant green, heart shaped leaves and tiny dainty purple flowers. Whenever we hear of violet, our mind registers the image of spring annual pansies widely grown in our gardens. Adaptable to our climate Viola Odorata grows in the wild in mostly in our northern areas, Kashmir and is also native to Europe as well. It prefers a shaded environment or an area having very little sunshine (morning preferably), good drainage & moisture especially during our hot summers. Violas thrive in a rich soil having leaf mould. I was able to dig some further information from an article by Zahrah Nasir.
“Let’s start with the smallest first, that beautiful little wild flower that grows on mountains and in forests throughout the scenic north of the country, the violet or banafsha as it is known here. There are actually two main varieties of this pretty plant, viola odorata and viola canina.
Viola odorata, with its wonderful fragrance, has been grown commercially since 400 BC both for use in the pharmaceutical and the perfumery industries. All parts of the plant are used in herbal remedies. A herbal preparation is used internally for bronchitis, catarrh, asthma, and cancers of the breast, stomach, lungs or that of the digestive tract. Externally an extraction is used for mouth and throat infections and also in aromatherapy for bronchial complaints and exhaustion.
And, as if this isn’t enough, the plant has its uses in the kitchen, too. Flowers and young leaves can be added to salads or made into a soothing tea
Flowers can also be candied and eaten as sweets or used as cake decorations, however, this method of preserving I do not recommend as it uses too much sugar and is very heavy on gas or electricity due to the lengthy oven time required and is definitely not cost effective at all. “
Excepted from: http://pakenvironmentandhealth.org/cont ... le-pansies
“Let’s start with the smallest first, that beautiful little wild flower that grows on mountains and in forests throughout the scenic north of the country, the violet or banafsha as it is known here. There are actually two main varieties of this pretty plant, viola odorata and viola canina.
Viola odorata, with its wonderful fragrance, has been grown commercially since 400 BC both for use in the pharmaceutical and the perfumery industries. All parts of the plant are used in herbal remedies. A herbal preparation is used internally for bronchitis, catarrh, asthma, and cancers of the breast, stomach, lungs or that of the digestive tract. Externally an extraction is used for mouth and throat infections and also in aromatherapy for bronchial complaints and exhaustion.
And, as if this isn’t enough, the plant has its uses in the kitchen, too. Flowers and young leaves can be added to salads or made into a soothing tea
Flowers can also be candied and eaten as sweets or used as cake decorations, however, this method of preserving I do not recommend as it uses too much sugar and is very heavy on gas or electricity due to the lengthy oven time required and is definitely not cost effective at all. “
Excepted from: http://pakenvironmentandhealth.org/cont ... le-pansies
, some silent neighbourhood admirer of your garden must have gifted them from his own garden. Does your neighbours also have nice well planned gardens comparable to yours?