Bird's-foot violet
Viola pedata · Violaceae
Large, flat, pansy-like flowers of lilac and deep violet, with orange stamens, over leaves cut into narrow fingers like a bird's foot.
- Size
- 5 in tall, 8 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late April to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around bird's-foot violet
The planner designed this bed around bird's-foot violet when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) naturalistic planting in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why bird's-foot violet stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Bird's-foot violet × 8, purple
- 2 Sedum 'Lidakense' × 34, pink
- 3 Stiff goldenrod × 3, yellow
- 4 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Bigroot cranesbill × 4, pink
- 7 Star of Persia × 3, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 7, blue
Why this plant
- Nothing here is unique to it. Its leaf, flower shape and colour are all on the plan already. Its case rests on where it stands and when it performs.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 5 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 36% of the edge.
- 8 plants in 2 runs (5 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From late April to late May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bigroot cranesbill and star of Persia in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as a naturalistic planting: low grasses and groundcovers, the matrix, make up 65% of the planted ground. Cool colours (purple, pink and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and white to calm things between them. Low plants run along 100% of the front edge: sedum 'Lidakense' and bird's-foot violet.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where bird's-foot violet goes in a border
At 5 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is ground-hugging (up to 6 in).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
The most beautiful American violet and the hardest to please: it needs sun, acid sand or gravel and no competition, and rots in rich soil. It does not spread.
- Sandy and rocky native gardens
- Rock gardens and troughs
- Regal fritillary butterflies
What to plant with bird's-foot violet
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Prairie smoke: in flower together for six weeks, from late April; tall enough (12 in) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
- Plantain-leaved pussytoes: its silver leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same dry soil.
- Little bluestem: its blue-green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; tall enough (3 ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same dry soil.
Questions about bird's-foot violet
Does bird's-foot violet need sun or shade?
Bird's-foot violet grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does bird's-foot violet grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does bird's-foot violet flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late April to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Early May to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late April to late May |
| Zone 6 | Mid April to late May |
| Zone 7 | Mid April to mid May |
| Zone 8 | Early April to early May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should bird's-foot violet be planted?
6 in (15 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 8 in (20 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 in (12 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many bird's-foot violet plants do I need?
At 6 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 48 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 21 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 153 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used eight in two groups.
Is bird's-foot violet poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat bird's-foot violet?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after bird's-foot violet?
Bird's-foot violet is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall.
What does bird's-foot violet look like in winter?
Bird's-foot violet dies down, but leave the stems standing: the seed heads stand through the winter, and songbirds eat the seed. Cut them down in early spring, before the new shoots come.
Is bird's-foot violet good for bees and butterflies?
Bird's-foot violet is visited by pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies, moths and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of fritillary butterflies feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States.
More Viola
- Common blue violet Viola sororia
- Horned violet Viola cornuta
- Labrador violet Viola labradorica
- Sweet violet Viola odorata
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Native perennials for pollinators
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Host plants for the fritillary butterflies
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 5 in (12 cm) tall, 8 in (20 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6 in (15 cm) apart
- Height class
- Ground-hugging (up to 6 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late April to late May; open bowls; purple, lavender
- Leaves
- Fine texture, herbaceous; green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Violaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies, moths, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Fritillary butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought
Checked against NC State Extension and VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.