That was my experience with them too - i.e. cute little things that popped up around the garden but were not a problem. There are some all ‘black’ (dark purple...?) ones that show up here in places - I’m not sure where they came from but I like them and let any that I see stay where they are.

where are you???

in my MI ... i started like you.. the mickey mouse plant is so cute ... and after 10 years.. in heavily amended gorgeous soil ... they were bent on world domination ... and became the bane of my garden existence at that house ... so i moved ... lol

here in sand.. with no water ... they arent that aggressive ... and in fact.. are the only green thing in the mowed former pasture i call a lawn .. lol .. on 5 acres.. who cares ...

your mother learned by experience.. if you refuse to take her wisdom ... then just relive her life.. and make the same mistake ... and plan on telling your kid the same.. and watch them make the same mistake.. third time over .... lol ...

ken

No more difficult to control or remove than any other self seeding perennial. And far less obnoxious than some!!

I have a love-hate relationship with all pansies and violas. I love their cheery faces. I was happy that I kept my johnnie jump ups and yellow pansies in flower til after July 1st. I tossed some johnnie jump up seeds in a low bowl type planter in early Spring and they just went crazy. They showed their faces early in May and I bought a yellow plant before Easter at Jewel. That one even survived two Spring snow showers we had. I love that they mean Spring is here to me so warmer weather is on the way and I love that they also represent Fall and the end of our growing season. I don’t mind that the jj ups seed around a bit here and there in my landscape rocks. I would rather see one pop up and become a flower than have a weed pop up that needs to be pulled and tossed. I am going to plant some orange and black seeds for the fall very soon. I hope you don’t mind the seeding around a bit from the jj ups. I have another package of seeds to direct sow again next Spring.

I love them and they make me happy, too. I saw a friend's garden with them and decided that next year, I will have some!

Only a problem if you're obsessive about 'weeds' in your lawn.

Ken, I’m in the heartland— Kansas City area. And it’s not that I didn’t take her advice, it’s that I sowed the seed before mentioning it to her.

I would guess that Ken's rich soil is responsible for his being overrun; the soil in my parents' yard was as tuckered out as you can get - they hardly had any weeds, much less overaggressive Johnny Jump Ups.

They can get aggressive seeding so I try to keep them in a container in an area where they are easy to pull or just left to be. I curse myself sometimes for planting them but after they all flower so sweetly I forget that I was mad. I certainly don’t want them in my lawn.

I am one of those more laid-back people when it comes to my lawn. Heck, I even hesitate to officially call it a "lawn" lol. I've got clover, and several kinds of mosses, and bluets, and that wild strawberry or whatever it is, and all kinds of weed grasses. Most of them have died out, but for years I had violets and violas in the lawn, and didn't mind it. I had actually planted some viola Rebecca in my garden, as well as some white violas a fellow gardener gave me, and they both spread here and there to the lawn, as well as the common purple violet. I actually enjoyed them. And if I didn't want them in a spot I would just rip them out. Same in the garden areas - if they're in the way of something I want to plant, out they come. Otherwise, they stay as filler and living mulch/groundcover.

There is actually a house near me whose front "lawn" in the spring is really just an entire expanse of white and purple, and I'm actually jealous. It's gorgeous! And when the violets/violas are done blooming, when you drive by you can't tell it's not just grass.

My yard is shady and I will never have a "perfect" lawn, and honestly don't know if I want one. I love the various things growing in it, most of which you only see if you are actually walking through it. We even mow around the bluets and buttercups till they finish blooming. From a distance, the neighbors don't know it's not grass, so they're happy lol. So I love the violas and enjoy them. It's a personal thing, I think, so give it a shot and see what you think.

:)
Dee

Dee - I can only wish my lawn was worry free. Lol. On a nice city block in Chicago people expect a nice groomed lawn. I do have weeds that I hand pull and have a very shaded front yard so grass doesn’t grow well but I try. I think if I did the violas and pansies in the lawn they would have me committed. Haha.

I do enjoy them in containers and they can seed around in my back yard all they want. I will always enjoy their cheery little flowers.

I prefer violas, clover, spring beauty, and the like (all low growing) to pristine lawn. But that's me :)

Patti, yes, you are absolutely right! It definitely depends on the neighborhood, lot sizes, etc. I live in a suburban area that was even just 50 years ago the farming center of my town (the other half of town being chock full of 1800's-era factory buildings - my town has a split personality lol). There are still two major farms within a mile of me. Lots are at least a half acre, often larger, no sidewalks, lots of fields (though sadly they are getting fewer and fewer as land is sold off and houses are built) and lots of trees, and so I have more leeway with my lawn. My neighbor is constantly attending to his lawn (sometimes mowing every other day! My husband says he's just rides his tractor to get out of the house full of women lol) and others in the neighborhood do as well, but some are less interested in their lawns than I am. So I do have the luxury of being able to let my lawn do its own thing haha. From what I hear from the neighbors here before me, the previous owner of my house had goats and never mowed the lawn! He must not have had many, or for very long because I think my soil would be a bit better lol.

:)
Dee

My neighbor hates my dandelions and then later the white clover. She tries to maintain a perfect lawn, has a lawn company come to spray, mows so short and often I cringe. But to each their own. I do feel guilty sometimes when I see "my" clover jumping over the property line. I have over an acre, so really don't want to have to obsess.

We here in my country neighborhood, up and down the road, have actually seen an increase in white clover in our yards. It probably began appx. three years ago. It's like someone went by in a truck and tossed out white clover seed.

Oh, I do like Johnny Jump-ups. Whenever I plant them (not in my yard), they are happy for a couple years but then disappear. I think I will try again next year. Wild blue violets do TOO well on my property. I like them in the orchard and some areas of the garden, but they can be a pain when they grow among the iris. ugh.

I love Johnny Jump Ups and need to plant some more. They have gradually died out at my house. Never invasive for me. Thanks for the reminder.