Three-coloured violet, or Heartsease

Three-coloured violet, or heartsease (lat. Víola trícolor) — an herbaceous annual or biennial (rarely perennial) plant of the Violet family (Violáceae), widespread in Europe and the temperate regions of Asia.

Another folk name of the Three-coloured violet is Ivan-da-Marya. Other folk names of the plant: brother-and-sister, butterflies, field brothers, half-flower, little axes, threeflower. In horticulture, the name "pansy" is often also applied to the hybrid Wittrock's violet (Viola × wittrockiana), which has larger and more brightly colored flowers.

General distribution — Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, the Far East; Scandinavia, Central and Atlantic Europe, Asia Minor. Occurs on fertile soils in meadows, among shrubs, at forest edges, on pastures and old fallow lands. Cultivated, sometimes escapes cultivation; a weed in fields, lawns, wastelands, dumps.

An annual or biennial terrestrial herbaceous plant. Root thin, taproot, sparsely branched, brownish, almost vertically penetrating into the ground. Stem usually branched, three-angled, glabrous or pubescent with hairs bent downward, hollow inside, reaching a height of 10—30 (45) cm; often several erect or creeping stems arise from the root.

Leaves alternate, petiolate, glabrous or sparsely hairy along the veins, coarsely toothed. Lower leaves broadly ovate, with fairly long petioles; upper leaves elongated-lanceolate, almost sessile with short petioles; two stipules at each leaf, pinnately-lobed, longer than the leaf petioles.

The inflorescence type of the three-coloured violet — a simple raceme. Flowers zygomorphic, borne singly on long, three- or four-angled, glabrous or slightly pubescent peduncles that are curved at the top, emerging singly from the leaf axils; each peduncle bears in its upper part, near the flower, 2 small bracteoles. Calyx five-lobed, green, persistent after flowering; its lobes are elongated-lanceolate, pointed, softly hairy, with short ciliate margins, at the base with a blunt short lamellar appendage; the two lower sepals somewhat larger than the others. Corolla 18 (20) — 27 (30) mm, flat, made of 5 free petals, blue predominating in its coloration. The upper petals are somewhat larger than the middle ones, dark blue-violet or light violet in color and are turned upward; the two middle petals have the same shape and color as the upper ones, or are paler or yellow, splayed obliquely to the sides and turned upward; the lower petal at the base is whitish or yellowish with a blunt bluish spur, which is twice as long as the calyx appendages; short hairs are present at the point where the spur departs.

Location: prefers sunny sites, loose, fertile soils. In shady and moist places these plants often suffer from slugs.

Care: respond negatively to fresh organic fertilizers. Pinching off faded flowers prolongs blooming. It is also necessary to carry out periodic feedings with mineral fertilizers. In severe winters the plants need a light covering with spruce boughs or tree leaves.

Propagation: sowing fresh seeds in autumn into the ground. Seedlings appear in the spring of the following year. Can be propagated by dividing the clump and by cuttings. It is not recommended to cultivate for more than three years without division, as the clumps spread greatly, lose compactness, and the size of the flowers decreases.