Alongside the first pale green shoots and pink blossoms of spring are unexpectedly large number of violets. On my morning walk to work I've spied them in abundance from Hackney to King's Cross; heart-shaped leaves and damp, dark petals, huddled tight and close to the earth. Friends and colleagues have spotted them all around the country, from Wrightington in Lancashire to Cerne Abbas in Dorset.
"I've been away for two months, and I thought I would have missed a lot of the spring flowers by the time I returned," says Professor Sir Ghillean T Prance, botanist and president of the Wildflower Society. "But I have lots of violets in my garden here in Devon; I do think we've had more of them this year."
The longer winter and the drawn-out spring has, Prance explains, "given the violets chance to flower over a longer period of time, so you see more of them than you would normally." Violets are part of the genus viola; they favour limey, alkaline soil, and flourish in gardens, woodland and shady banks. Most common are the sweet violet, which you can identify easily by its scent, and the dog violet. Happily, the dog violet is also the food source of the pearl- bordered fritillary and the high brown fritillary, so this year, thanks to the abundant food supply, we can hope to see a large number of these butterflies too.
