The violet’s heyday was the end of the 19th century, when trains full of both cut flowers and potted plants would leave growers in Devon and Cornwall for London. It has been estimated that, in the 1890s, there were 400 violet sellers on the streets of central London. The main appeal of the flowers to the Victorians and Edwardians was, of course, their perfume, which could detract from the stench of city streets. The scent did not merely mask the smell: violet perfume contains a substance, ionone, that briefly anaesthetises the nose against other smells.
The pick of the bunch
Viola odorata ‘Diana Groves’
In 2004, an inaugural conference for violet enthusiasts was held in Toulouse, France, and this plant, a seedling with claret-coloured flowers raised at the Groves Nursery, won a gold medal. It’s a tough plant reputed to be very resistant to pests and diseases
Viola odorata ‘Mrs R Barton’
Esta historia es de la edición March 02, 2022 de Country Life UK.
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Esta historia es de la edición March 02, 2022 de Country Life UK.
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The original Mr Rochester
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Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
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Capturing the castle
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Nature's own cathedral
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All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery