Viola 'Sorbet Midnight Glow' (Pansy)

Sorbet Midnight Glow is one of the most visually arresting violas in the trade, producing small, perfectly formed flowers in deep violet-purple with a golden yellow center eye that glows like a lit candle against the dark petals. The contrast is so crisp and rich that individual flowers look almost painted. As with all Sorbet series violas, the plants are compact and mounding, typically staying under eight inches tall, and they bloom prolifically from fall through spring and into early summer in Pacific Northwest gardens.

Violas are the cool-season stars of the Oregon coast. While inland gardeners treat them as a brief spring fling before summer heat shuts them down, coastal gardeners can grow them nearly year-round. Sorbet Midnight Glow handles light frosts without complaint and keeps flowering through overcast winter days when the garden needs color most. The small flowers look charming spilling from window boxes, edging borders, tucked into mixed containers, or naturalized along a cottage path.

Regular deadheading or a light shearing when bloom slows will refresh the plant and bring on a new flush.