Violets

Dear Lilliputian , 

I wonder if you have any Violets growing in your yard . I do . I have four different colors of Violets growing here and there in my yard . The one above is , I think , the most common , in fact it is called the Common Blue Violet even though it is purple . 

  

I am not sure of the names of these three Violets . . . but they are sweet .

Would you like to know another of natures secrets that most people don't know ? These flowers come in the Spring but these plants will grow more flowers at the end of the Summer that never open up . . . they remain little buds , and usually no one ever sees them . They grow under the leaves close to the ground and some barely raise their heads above the dirt as if they were hiding . These hidden flowers have a very important job . . . and that is to make seeds . The Spring flowers can make seeds also but because they come in the Spring the weather might make it hard for them to make their seeds . . . so they have these other very quiet flowers that grow to make sure each plant makes enough seeds so that next year we will have beautiful Violets in our lawn . I don't have a photo of the flowers that hide . . . but I found two beautiful ones on line to show you what some of the flowers look like .

                          

These have been dug up and even opened up so we can see into the secret life of the Violet .

Remember we talked about Ants coming to take the seeds away ? Well , the seeds of the Spring Violet flowers have the kind of coating on the outside that the Ants love to eat and so they carry the seeds to their underground home and eat what is on the outside of the seed but the rest of the seed is too hard for the Ant to eat so they leave it in their underground home . When Ants do this they are called Farmer Ants because in some ways they are just like a farmer . . . they are actually planting seeds . Have you ever seen an Ant carrying a seed ?

One of my dear Cousins has recently been reading some of Cicely Mary Barker's Poems about flowers
. . . here is one about Violets .

The Song of the Dog Violet 

The Wren and Robin hop around ;
The Primrose-maids my neighbors be ;
The sun has warmed the mossy grounds ;
Where Spring has come , I too am found :
The Cuckoo's call has awaken me !


 Robert McCloskey wrote great books , two of my favorites are Blueberries For Sal , and Make way for Ducklings . If you haven't read them you just have to read them this Summer .  If you have read them another book you might enjoy by Robert McCloskey is titled Homer Price . Homer Price is not a picture book like the other two I mentioned but it is a fun book to read in the Summer especially on hot days sipping lemonade while someone reads out loud to you or you read it yourself while sipping a nice cool glass of lemonade .

Until next time,
Wildbee