A few months ago I went with Iris to Mandeville Garden and she pointed out some black violas to me. She picked some out for her garden and I took 3 small plants for my garden. I didn’t think about them much – they are smallish pansies – not as small as Johnny Jump-Ups, and about half the size of those big pansies. I put my three black pansy plants next to some light blue ones in the front shady part of the yard. I just let the ferns grow wild in that shady spot along with some moss and whatever else likes to grow there. I guess it’s kind of a woodland theme. That plus I just hate fighting with nature. I just can’t. Nature is too persistent. My garden tends to be a bit on the au naturel side. And I forgot about my three little pansy plants.
Today after work I noticed they’ve reseeded themselves and are growing like crazy – they sure like that spot.
And after a little research, it turns out black violas are all mysterious and have been used to represent a variety of things like secret knowledge, resurrection and, of course, death. Yay! Halloween and Day of the Dead flowers in my garden right now!
I also found this Greek Myth about them, and that inspired a little haiku.
Once nymph, now white crow
sheds tears of black violas
in my front garden
I pictured my haiku in stop motion animation – Clash of the Titans style. Perhaps I should add some Greek God statues in our front yard. Heh. I could give the pink peeg yard a run for their money with a statue-off.
