Colour and scent are reasons enough to plant violets, but they're also useful in the kitchen and medicine cabinet Any day now, if you have violets in your garden, you should find the first flowers hiding among the leaves. Such a delight - the perfume, the colour - in the teeth of winter. And it's an age-old pleasure: the sweet violet is one of the world's most cherished flowers.Over 2 000 years ago, the Greeks were already growing them for the Athens market and the Roman poet Horace was chiding his countrymen for planting more violets than olives.Down the centuries, numerous other poets have sung their fleeting beauty. "Sweet, not lasting, the perfume and suppliance of a minute," lamented Shakespeare. They were also the favourite flower of Napoleon, who died wearing a locket containing violets that he had picked at Josephine's grave.Such a delicate flower, such a weight of sentiment and symbolism: modesty, humility, devotion, sweet memories, early death. No wonder violets reached the zenith of their popularity in the hearts-and-flowers Victorian era. Heavenly scented trains rolled daily into London from George Lee's violet nursery in Somersetshire, each bunch destined to adorn a snowy bosom, bear a declaration of love or simply cheer a parlour. Many of the varieties bred then have been lost, but one of the most fragrant and large-flowered, 'The Czar', which dates back to 1863, is still grown by Malanseuns and widely available here.story_article_left1WHY VIOLETS ARE AN ASSET...In the garden: Sweet violets (Viola odorata) are hardy, semi-deciduous perennials with clumps of heart-shaped leaves and flowers in various shades of purple or white. Their superb scent only seems fleeting because it temporarily anaesthetises the olfactory glands.Violets prefer semi-shade and moist but well-drained soil, and they spread by runners, from which they are easily propagated. They also self-seed, often popping up and flourishing in unlikely places. This is because they are among a number of plants known as myrmecochores (don't try to pronounce it), the seeds of which are distributed by ants. Each seed has an oil-rich attachment known as an elaiosome; the ants carry the seed off to their nests, feed on these nutritious bits but leave the seed itself unharmed and safe from seedeaters such as rodents. Research findings indicate that violet seeds in ant nests tend to produce more vigorous plants.In the kitchen and medicine cabinet: Violets have been valued as much for their medicinal properties as for their beauty. They have been credited with all kinds of benefits against everything from chest infections to hangovers, scorpion stings and even cancer. Modern research has shown that they possess cooling and cleansing properties and also contain a powerful emetic. There are loads of recipes for violet syrup online, for tonic and culinary use. Violet flowers are edible and make a lovely garnish for salads and cakes - for which they are often also candied...