Wikimedia Commons
Violaceae
Johnny-Jump-Up
Viola tricolor
Cheerful thoughts and lighthearted love.
- Family
- Violaceae
- Genus
- Viola
- Native to
- Europe, western Asia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer, Fall
- Type
- short-lived perennial or annual
- Height
- 10–20 cm
- Sunlight
- full sun to part shade
- Soil
- moist, well-drained, average
- Water
- medium
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- short-lived perennial; freely self-sowing
Did you know
- Johnny-jump-up is the wild ancestor of garden pansies — all modern pansies descend from crosses involving Viola tricolor.
- Shakespeare called it 'love-in-idleness' in A Midsummer Night's Dream, where its juice was the love potion used on Titania.
- The three colors in each flower — purple, yellow, and white — give it the species name 'tricolor.'
- The tiny flowers are entirely edible and are popular as decorations on salads, cakes, and cocktails.
- It self-sows so enthusiastically that it 'jumps up' in unexpected places every spring, hence the common name.
Color meanings
Purple
loving thoughts
Yellow
cheerful remembrance
White
innocent affection