Sometimes it’s the smallest things that bring us the simplest and greatest joy. . . like these minute little wild violets. . . the tiniest of pretty flowers.
Don’t be fooled. . . the vase is a little vintage bottle I picked up one day in an antique store. It stands just 8 centimetres tall and together with my vintage mini Oxford dictionary, they make a perfect vignette.
There’s a reason why violets bring a smile to my face. . . a long time ago, back when out children were just tots, I had wild violets growing in my garden bed. The girls liked to pick them and play with them in their cubby house. This patch of violets spread bit by bit. . . until they filled an otherwise dormant garden bed under a gum tree. . . it was about 3 metres long. They looked so elegant and sweet. . . almost like a mauve coloured carpet when they flowered.
Then one day there was an incident!!
It is fair to be said, that the man-of-the-house is no gardener. He keeps his lawns and edging immaculate, but when it comes to plants and weeds he has little knowledge. That’s okay though, because I quite enjoy gardening and see it as another creative outlet to be explored. Our partnership in the garden worked out just fine until the day he purchased a new ‘boy toy’. Oh yes. . . that whipper snipper demonstrated more grunt and muscle than we had ever seen in the garden before.
The man-of–the-house was jubilant with his triumphs in the garden that day . . . especially when he explained how he had gotten rid of that nuisance weed that had taken over our garden.
And of course he was right. . . not a leaf nor stalk stood where my violet patch once was!
Lucky for me, the root system was still intact and within weeks some resemblance of life was re-established in my violet patch. I remember being pretty angry at the time, but years later I smile whenever I see a dainty little violet poking her face up towards the sun and remember back to that time in our life.
Recently we noticed a lone violet in amongst our herb garden. Left untouched that one little violet became many and we have such a pretty display of flowers at the moment. Sadly, that herb patch is being dismantled tomorrow to make way for a new patio, so this morning I picked the last of my violets. . . well for the time being!
I hope that you’ve had time today to stop and notice something small and insignificant.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne
Hey Kerryanne! I LOVE violets too … though my childhood memories are tied to the darker leafed, deep purple variety … like we get a lot here in Toowoomba. One of my fave Golden Books was about Danny Beaver’s secret … he borrowed a shovel from one friend, straw from another and violet runners from another … it turned out his secret was a pool for his friends to come and visit him … with lush violets planted around the edge. That picture sticks in my mind … wish I still had the book! :0) Oh … and we had a similar ‘incident’ involving a birdbath prettily surrounded by luch seaside daisy, my father and a lawnmower. SIGH! It never did recover! :0) Enjoy your ‘little’ treasures – Bear Hugs! KRIS
Oh my these are one of my fav too! I remember them growing around the old concrete tank out west, the only place they would survive in drought, and I grow them now around my water feature, they have formed the most beautiful carpet around the base, thankfully behind a small retaining wall so no man can venture beyond! Thank you for sharing, and I think I’ll be heading out to pick some for a small vase right now as you make them look such a sophisticated statement x
I love violets, too. I’ve let them loose in the front lawn and the gardens in front, in the spring it is so lovely to see the purple in with the grass. My little grandsons love finding them (to pick) and ask where they are when they aren’t blooming! They’ll be here soon, yeah.
violets are so very sweet and they grow wild in my back yard! they just seem to pop up through the ivy! i love them…thanks for sharing some simple beauty and reminding of us of the small things…hugs!
I love the look of the violets and your photos are fabulous.
I remember my Dad walking in with a plant (and roots) to ask Mum if it was a weed…needless to say she wasn’t amused to see one of her prize plants ‘grubbed-up’ like that – poor Dad thought he was helping.
“Boy toys” have a lot to answer for as my lovely honeysuckle that was being trained trough the hedge got cut off in its prime by the over enthusiastic use of a new hedge trimmer…grrrr
Toni xx