Bunny Ears Viola is a rare cottage flower treasure that lives up to its whimsical name. The sweetly scented pink blooms feature two prominent upper petals that stand upright like rabbit ears, creating one of the most charming flowers you'll ever tuck into a garden. This compact Viola cornuta cultivar reaches just 8 inches high and wide, making it a natural for containers, fairy gardens, and border edges. Hardy in zones 5 through 9, it thrives in cool weather and tolerates shade, growing as a perennial in colder regions and often as an annual elsewhere.
Full Sun
—
5-9
?in H x ?in W
—
High
Hover over chart points for details
The two upright petals that give this viola its bunny ears silhouette are immediately recognizable and delightfully different from typical viola forms. Standing only 8 inches tall, it's small enough to nestle into containers and fairy gardens yet bold enough in color and fragrance to command attention. This heirloom viola's heat-sensitive, cool-season preference means spring and fall blooms are often its strongest, rewarding patient gardeners with waves of sweetly scented pink flowers when conditions suit its temperament.
Bunny Ears Viola shines in ornamental settings where its compact size and charming form can be appreciated up close. Use it to edge borders, fill containers and window boxes, create whimsical fairy gardens, or plant it in rock gardens where visitors can lean in to enjoy its sweet fragrance. Its shade tolerance makes it valuable for brightening partially shaded spots where many other flowers struggle.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Deadhead spent flowers regularly throughout the growing season to promote continued blooming and maintain the plant's compact, tidy appearance. No heavy pruning is necessary due to the variety's naturally compact 8-inch growth habit.
Enter your ZIP code to see a personalized growing calendar for this plant.
“Viola cornuta, the horned violet, has been treasured in gardens since its discovery in the Pyrenees Mountains, and Bunny Ears represents a cultivated selection refined over generations for its distinctive petal presentation. This heirloom variety nearly vanished from cultivation, becoming so hard to find that it now appears rarely in seed catalogs. Its preservation and continued availability through heirloom seed companies reflects the dedication of gardeners and breeders who recognized its unique charm and fought against its disappearance from gardens.”