Thanks to Valentine’s Day, February is known as the month for love; and so, you might guess that roses are the dominant floral gifts during this shortest month of the year. However, long before the lovers’ holiday, and even before St. Valentine himself, another flower had a history in both myth and everyday life—violets.
Characteristics
Violets are a flowering plant of the genus Viola, which includes 525 to 600 species. They can grow from early spring all the way to late fall. They will also self-seed, so planting them once can give you years of blooms to look forward to.Violets are edible and have been consumed for millennia, dating as far back as ancient Greece, where they were used in food, wine, and medicine. As a culinary ingredient, the plants were used as thickeners, tossed raw into salads, or cooked like spinach. They were also candied, boiled for dye (which was often applied to fabrics), or used to give color and scent to perfumes.
