Sweet Violet

Viola odorata - helps to ease headaches, insomnia, and connect with your inner child

Sweet Violet, Viola odorata, is a small hardy perennial native to Europe and Asia and has acclimated throughout North America and Australia. It is a wildflower that has been used medicinally for thousands of years. More than anything else, sweet violet flowers have a fairy-like energy and presence that awakens within me a connection with the elementals and higher realms. This is a plant for opening the heart chakra to connect with Gaia’s magical realms.

Sweet violets make a great ground cover in shady areas or under trees, flowering generously throughout spring as long as the weather doesn’t get too hot. They spread easily and create a wonderful green carpet in shady parts of the garden. If they disappear in the summer heat - worry not, they will come back in full force once the weather turns cool again. They self-seed readily and also spread by runners, so a few plants go a long way.

Medicinal Qualities:

Both the leaves and flowers have medicinal qualities. They are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, rich in vitamins A & C, and have a high content of bioflavonoids and anti-cancer compounds that can be effective against lung, skin, stomach, and breast cancer. Sweet violet can also help ease headaches, insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, dizziness, arthritis, gum disease, swollen glands, stomachaches, ulcers, canker sores, and indigestion.

The leaves are mucilaginous, making them an excellent remedy for respiratory ailments such as bronchitis, chronic cough, congestion, asthma, or sinus infections. Both the leaves and flowers contain significant amounts of rutin and salicylic acid, which act similarly to aspirin and are useful in alleviating pain, body aches, and inflammation, helping to prevent blood clots and inhibit platelet aggregation.

How to use Sweet Violet:

Sweet violet flowers and leaves can be added to a bath, used in a poultice, as a cream, or infused in oil to treat acne, psoriasis, eczema, rashes, sores, and even skin cancer. Sweet violet is also a great blood purifier, helping to detox the lymph nodes and cleanse the entire body. Violet-nettle massage oil is particularly effective when dealing with mastitis, fibrocystic breasts, or other issues with clogged lymph nodes.

Violets evoke a childlike wonder. They help to heal grief and ease emotional wounds of the heart, clearing out any negativity that has settled deep within the body. It’s interesting to notice how the flowers and new leaves come out in spring, just in time for a spring-cleaning tea or violet infused water that opens the heart and imbues new hopes and dreams.

To make tea add 2 tsp of fresh or dried flowers and/or leaves to 1 cup of boiling water. Allow to steep for at least 10 minutes.
Fresh sweet violet flowers and leaves are also a wonderful addition to fruit and vegetable salads, smoothies, and jams.

Sweet Violets Cousin - Viola Tricolor

And before we finish, I'd like to mentions Sweet Violets cousin, Viola tricolor (commonly known as Johnny Jump Up or Heartsease). This type of viola is an edible annual that reseeds itself each year (though not always successfully on its own).

Viola tricolor is one of my all-time-favorites for decorating salads, cakes, and cookies. They are very easy to preserve - just place them gently between two sheets of paper, and weigh them down with some books, and you'll have beautiful edible dried flowers all year round.


Some of the information in this article comes from the Medical Medium website