Rooster Violets

Recently a friend and I were talking about Bird's Foot Violets (Viola pedata) and he said they only grow in full sun, in poor soil. A few days later I was walking in a part of my yard I seldom go in, and there they were! I was thrilled because in the past I had tried to transplant them without luck. Now I realize I had given them too rich a home and in response, they died. The next day I found a clump in the inhospitable area near my mailbox.When I was a child, there was a place on a bank near my grandmother's house where these violets grew in abundance in the red soil that was devoid of organic matter. A few years ago I visited an abandoned (well, almost) cemetery where they all but covered the ground. Whenever I spy a clump, it brings joy to my heart.