Story behind the art of Albina P. Herron

27th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Sweet Violet

Viola odorata

I love violets. They are my favorite flower. When I was a kid, I brought several clumps of violets home from the woods, and eventually they established themselves in my yard. I’m not sure how thrilled my mom was with this, but I was over the moon.

When my husband and I moved here to Pennsylvania, I was so happy to see not one but two species of violets on our large, partly wooded property: a traditional violet colored one and a white one with violet or blue veining. 

I dug up the plant in this painting in 2022, transplanted it to a pot on the deck to paint it, and then returned it to the yard. I was very lucky, as it had flowers in pretty much every stage of development. I didn't paint the underground flowers, as I didn't realize at the time that there were underground flowers. I have yet to paint the white one; I was going to dig up a clump this year, but we were hit with a few days of upper 70s and low 80s temperatures, and the violets just disappeared.

There is so much about this unassuming plant that I just adore. It's edible, both the flowers and leaves. The flowers can be candied (what afternoon tea is complete without a candied violet on a petit four?). They can be made into a tasty syrup; I have made the syrup a few times and canned it. The fresh leaves are used in herbal medicine. I love the here and gone fragrance - now you smell it and then you can't - due to a property of the chemical compounds that produce the fragrance. I even used to wear a violet perfume from Crabtree and Eveyln. As a teenager I always had a tin of Anis De Flavigny - Violet Flavored Candies or a pack of Choward’s Violet Mints candy in my purse.

Violets are also represented in literature, poetry, song, and common culture.

A truly versatile plant.



Violet season makes my heart sing. I always beg my husband and the neighbors to let the violets finish flowering before they mow them down. And I always think that the fairy folk need to have them finish flowering too!

Next Story

Back to List

Read more about this artist's work: Curious Allies