The Meadow Violet or the Common Blue Violet is state flower for Wisconsin and other states including Illinois, Rhode Island, and New Jersey. In Wisconsin school children were given the opportunity to vote for the State Flower and in 1909 the Common Blue Violet was selected.
This one is purple, but we have a number of them which are white as well.
Over this past weekend, the gray, cold, wet weather took a long enough pause for us to notice that our yard was starting to fill with violets. Part of maintaining our wildflower garden and other flower beds is the dedicated removal of weeds, but one of the exceptions we make to this removal is for the violets. (Side note, we don't hand weed the lawn so any weeds out in the turf grass are welcome stay, the Bumble Bees love the Creeping Charlie this early in the spring anyway.)
We leave the violets in place for a couple of reasons. First of which is that it's the state flower, it just seems wrong to attempt to purge it. The second of which is value it has for the local pollinators. Our pollinator count for the year so far is 4 identified species: Cabbage White Butterfly, Bumble Bee, Large Carpenter Bee, and the Honey Bee.
This early in the spring, there may not be much other food available for these little guys. While the Lupine is starting to look bushy, the violets are looking showy, so even if you aren't concerned about the bees, these flowers can add a splash of color to your spring.
One note of caution this little flower can spread like wildfire especially if you are eliminating the competition so if you aren't looking for native ground cover it may not be the plant for you.
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