VIOLAS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28701, 26 September 1958, Page 3

VIOLAS

What is the botanical difference between the Pansy and the Viola? Foliage, habit, shape and colour may be similar. Botanically, however, there is a difference for the . iola is midway between the sweet violet and* the pansy. Colour also enters into it quite a lot, for the viola is not allowed a solid face like the pansy. It may have lines or spreadings but no solid colour-

ings, although from seed we get many attractive hybrids. These, however, would be barred from the exhibition stand as violas. Soft colouring is the viola’s main attraction. Pure white, yellow, apricot, and pale to dark blues afford scope for an almost infinite variety of colour combinations.

At English shows it is common to find stands of as many as 12 exhibition named sorts, of which only a few have yet reached New Zealand. Of these, Arkwright, Ruby, Apricot, Princess Mary, Blue Gum, White Swan and Maggie Nott are typical examples. The viola is easily raised from cuttings or seed and makes a lovely long-flowering edging plant.

Flow of Words.— “A true madman, like myself, isn’t concerned with such a mundane affair as reading a book. He just likes to have them around. There are, of course, terrible dangers in this. Some book accumulators stockpile books. They accumulate in the upper rooms of the house like a glacier, and slowly flow down, sweeping the furniture before them, until they reach the Melt line of the front door.”—Wynford Vaughan Thomas, speaking in a 8.8. C. programme.