Looks like violets to me. They're very pretty, but obnoxious lawn weeds.

It's growing in one of my beds... little rhizome roots and spreads like crazy. Before completely digging it all out, could someone tell me what it is?

It's still violets :-)

a nightmare in the garden..

any piece hitting the soil will live..

expand by rhizomes [i think] ..

and.. the worst part.. if i recall properly.. THEY SEED THREE TIMES PER YEAR ...

you could spend the next 20 years.. trying to eradicate them ...

do not fall for the.. OH MY ARE THEY CUTE... and encourage them ..

a few are fine.. but its an easy nightmare. .

and after you dig them out.. as noted.. dont let any pieces fall in the lawn ...

ken

Yes, they're the wild wood violets. Charming, but a real nuisance. Dig deep and get the white node beneath the floret of leaves as well as all of the root as is possible. They'll probably come back, but you can keep them at bay.

Well, I hate to be smug, but .....

About 3 years ago I decided to win the war on these b-tards once and for all. I'm about 99,9% in control of my garden once again. It takes getting down on your hands and knees and slowly, but methodically working your way through the garden finding every last one of these including all the tiny babies and all the ones growing in the middle of other perennials. Don't just pull them out. They come back. Dig them out. Do this week after week after week for a few years and it is possible to eradicate them. And most importantly, if you see a flower pinch if off. You don't want a whole new crop of seeds to germinate the following year.

Roundup does work on these, but it takes a while.

Kevin

I don't know how I posted it twice?? It didn't show up the first time, so I did it again!

But thank you for the ID. I just don't know how they got there... it started last year, and now this year, it's just overwhelming. I have hosta's planted in that bed, thinking all those little rhizome roots will choke my hostas out. But, I never planted them... they just showed up last summer.

I've got a place where I'd rather they were... so if they spread/grow that easily.. I'll just keep bringin a shovelful and drop it on the sidehill. Would be nice to keep the weeds down on that sidehill as it's impossible to mow.

Either way, they're getting moved. How rude of them to move in without being invited! Just took over the place... arrogant aren't they?

You might want to reconsider keeping any of them. They won't stay in one place for long. I made that mistake thinking I would just keep a little patch of them since they are so cute. They migrate BIG TIME. I suspect when the seed pods split, they toss the seeds quite some distance. Eventually they just keep leap-frogging all over the place.

K

Most folks who get them have no idea where they originally came from. Probably in a load of topsoil or in sod.

I don't know why people have such adamant feelings against this native. It was always one of my favorite plants, tough enough to be a path, short enough to grow under most other plants, drought-tolerant once established, rarely dies in permanent pot displays. Established Hostas can hold their territory next to Violets, as long as they aren't tiny little teacup Hostas.

Flowers in the lawn without any effort on my part? Bonus! I miss these! None of the ones we brought from Ohio are still alive. I'm not the only one who loves Violets, they have their own forum.

I had them all over my garden when I first moved in. I thought they were cute so I let them stay, and then they took over. Granted, I have a small garden, but I got rid of them in a year or two by hand digging, a dozen years ago, and they've never come back. I don't have a lawn, but I love seeing them in other peoples'; they're so much prettier than grass.

Since then, I've intentionally planted some Viola labradorica. That one seeds around some, but I have no problem controlling it and I think it's lovely.

{{gwi:238599}}

I had a few spring up in a "flower bed" that also houses some grape hyacinths. It was very pretty... until they started springing up EVERYWHERE. What Ken said thinking them seed 3 times a season doesn't surprise me. I pull them all up, by the root, from around the edge of my deck once every two weeks or so and they pop right back up. I really think they're pretty but I'm going to start pulling more and more up as I find them. The fact that they don't show up on Michigan's invasive plant list amazes me. They're out of control here! (being that my house was unattended to for a long time doesn't help, I'm sure)

I've had the occasional johnny-jump-up over the years but it's never been invasive for me. I'll consider myself lucky.

Re: Violets and the lawn

I have them all over the back lawn. Personally, I couldn't care less - they're green, and they stay green (unlike grass, which turns that lovely shade of toast right about this time of year). My next-door neighbor thinks they're lovely, so much so that she decided to dig some out of the lawn and plant as a ground cover in her flower bed - but hey at least she's not on me to nuke my lawn like most of the rest of suburbia tends to do, so I don't mind. Our huge swath of rich purple violets and bright yellow dandelions blooming together is a sight to behold, it is a glorious spring sight! (no, I'm not being sarcastic - it really IS beautiful!).

Re: Violets and the lawn

I have them all over the back lawn. Personally, I couldn't care less - they're green, and they stay green (unlike grass, which turns that lovely shade of toast right about this time of year). My next-door neighbor thinks they're lovely, so much so that she decided to dig some out of the lawn and plant as a ground cover in her flower bed - but hey at least she's not on me to nuke my lawn like most of the rest of suburbia tends to do, so I don't mind. Our huge swath of rich purple violets and bright yellow dandelions blooming together is a sight to behold, it is a glorious spring sight! (no, I'm not being sarcastic - it really IS beautiful!).

The fact that they don't show up on Michigan's invasive plant list amazes me.

It's a native plant. Invasive plants in the connotation you indicate must be exotic. It may grow more exuberantly that a lot of folks would like and therefore INVADE their garden or lawn, but as a native, cannot be designated as "an invasive."

Sweet vi-o-lets
Sweeter than the roses.
Covered all over from head to toe
Covered all over with sweet vi-o-lets.

Remember this song?

I love them as well. They are beautiful in bloom, and tidy most of the rest of the season until they go dormant. One of my personal favorites is Viola sororia 'Freckles'.

Yes, they do self-sow, but no more so than many other plants. Frankly, they are easy to hand pull, and only slightly difficult to kill with herbicides, since they do usually require a second application.

Here is a link that might be useful: Freckles makes me smile!

I don't have a problem with violets either. They're pretty in bloom, green the rest of the time, and if they are in my way I rip a handful out and carry on.

One year, I had Freckles EVERYWHERE. It was breathtaking and a bit scary too, at the same time, lol. But the funny thing is, after that year, they declined and now I don't seem to have any. I still have the purple, and I have some white, but Freckles seems to have disappeared from my lawn and beds all together.

Of course, this is coming from someone whose "lawn" includes violets, wild strawberry (I think), bluets, buttercups, white clover, red clover, hair cap moss (LOVE that stuff!), other mosses, dandelions, canadian mayapple, bits of ajuga, lichen (I love the lichen ON the moss), and oh yeah, some grass of some sort.

Dee

That looks like Viola sororia, which is a common violet. I have lots of them, in both purple and white, as well as Viola pubescens, which is downy yellow violet. Lovely plants, although they are a little weedy. I let them grow to their heart's content back in the wilder areas, but do weed a lot of them (but not all) out of the garden beds.

Very pretty in the Spring, provide early nectar for insects, and they are host plants for the Fritillary butterflies. Last year I watched a Great Spangled fritillary lay eggs in the violets!