The Dog violet is the most common wild violet with pretty little pansy like flowers. As it is the wild version, there is some variation in the shapes and shades of the flowers. Predominately they are purple in colour. The flowers are unscented and this little wildflower spreads readily by seed. It enjoys challenging places like cracks in paving and gravel paths. However it does equally well at the woodland edge, in hedgerows, borders and pastureland. It is also great to use for planting under roses and shrubs so very versatile.
Wildlife attracted:
The Dog violet is an important plant for nectar. It is a food plant for the caterpillars of Pearl bordered fritillary, High brown fritillary, Silver washed fritillary and Dark green fritillary. All of these are threatened by habitat loss.
