Sweet Violets

Sweet Violet, Viola odorata.  Hayes, 12 April 2013.

This pretty flower belongs in the woods, and I was surprised to see it here in Hayes.  It might be a garden escape, but it might also be a leftover from before the building of houses here. 

It grows in several patches at the side of a footpath between two roads, just a piece of rough little-tended ground between the path and a fence, as you can see here.  There are also patches of Lesser Celandine, another woodland species, in the same place.  But no trees.

Sweet Violets, Viola odorata, by a public footpath.  Hayes, 12 April 2013.

The flowers are small and inconspicuous, which would not make this an obvious garden plant.  You can only just see them in the second photo, among the clumps of roundish leaves.  The dandelion and the discarded drink can are more visible.  But they are delicate and sweet-smelling when seen up close.