Violas

By Ayesha Salman

A few months ago, I bought some seeds on a whim and decided to grow them as a new hobby during quarantine. It took a few tries, but eventually I cultivated the seeds into the violas successfully. I water the flowers regularly, but not excessively. They usually get 3-4 hours of sunlight but there hasn't been much of it to go around since winter started. I've found that the compost we collect from our own home works best as a natural fertilizer for the violas. I love the deep purple color of the flowers and they smell heavenly! It's not as easy as it looks to grow a plant though. I've learned through trial and error that the plants need a lot of room to grow, otherwise the roots tangle around themselves and end up looking like a cobweb. I've been meaning to move them to a bigger pot recently and just went to pick one up today! The violas have incited my sister to grow a plant as well. We have our own little collection as of right now, but we're thinking of starting a garden as soon as the rain clears up and we get a little sunshine!