Native Violets: "Weed" or "Wildflower?"

Gardeners often classify plants into two neat categories: desirable ornamentals, which we love,  cherish, and purchase; and those unwanted, self-seeding vagabonds, the weeds. 

Even though reality is quite a bit more nuanced than that, I still fall into that trap myself-- even if a plant is interesting-- perhaps even pretty-- I can flippantly dismiss it with a callous brush of a hand, muttering, "Only a weed." An example of this, for instance, is that small, creeping euphorbia (or spurge) commonly called milkweed (E. peplus) that crops up along driveway edges and gravel pavements. In all honesty, it is just as invasive as an "ornamental" spurge I bought at a nursery, and, although small and annual, has a similar look to those "desirable" spurges from nurseries.

But there is a more useful-- and, thankfully, rather widely-used-- definition of a weed: any plant that grows where you don't want it. 

The little native violet Viola sororia likes partially-shaded lawns. They seem to be innocuous wildflowers when their petite purple flowers appear in spring, but their ability to produce explosive seedpods even after the flowering season is past enables them to colonize swathes of ground. They can withstand mowing, blasts of herbicide, and the dedicated application of a trowel... but their native tenacity cannot be quashed. At least the flowers and leaves are edible (but don't expect to harvest your own lettuce replacement from now on). Lone Pine's Wildflowers of Tennessee guide notes that "Pound for pound, violet blossoms are said to contain more vitamin C than oranges."

I suppose your own classification for the "common blue violet" depends on your viewpoint. But there are other fascinating native violets with less invasive tendencies-- and these are showcased at the Huntsville Botanical Garden's rhododendron and trillium collections.

In the foreground is a non-native-type viola, which likely self-seeded. Behind is the "Confederate Violet" (V. sororia 'Priceana'), so named because the combination of white with bluish striping resembles the gray of CSA uniforms. It shares plain sororia's colonizing habit.

The yellow woodland violet (V. pubescens).

V. pubescens.

This looks to be a white variant of sororia, or perhaps sagittata.

Another white variant.

Could it be sororia? The leaves look rather long and narrow... perhaps sagittata.

Many nurseries-- even ones specializing in native plants-- don't carry a large assortment of native violets; I'd recommend checking out Gardens in the Wood of Grassy Creek, which sells very robust, healthy plants, and carries native species as well as a large selection of sweet violets (V. odorata).

Maybe the common blue violet is, in fact, a weed in your lawn. But other native violets self-seed much less prolifically, and make excellent additions to a shaded perennial border.