Common Blue Violet

Our Experience

These violets grow wild in our backyard habitat. They are prolific and spread across much of our almost two acres of land. In some places the leaves can grow quite large. Flowers are short-lived making an appearance in the early part of spring.

Because of how many violets we have in the habitat it’s challenging to look for eggs or caterpillars. Instead we make an effort to watch female Variegated Fritillaries to see if they lay eggs. The eggs are quite small and are quickly preyed upon by other insects. Best to hand raise the eggs and caterpillars as soon as observed instead of waiting for the eggs to hatch. We learned this the hard way one spring and summer. For help in hand raising the eggs and caterpillars, see Variegated Fritillary.