A favourite flower of Napoleon Bonaparte at least one variety was grown by the Empress Josephine’s gardeners at Malmaison where it was known as ‘La Violette de Parme’.

The breeding of larger and healthier clones of Viola odorata saw a decline in the popularity of Parma violets which were much more difficult to grow.Their perfumed flavour has an army of loyal fans and Swizzels make 100 million rolls of Parma Violets every year. Many selections of sweet violets were made by growers and desirable characteristics that were sought were long stems, good colour and of course strong scent! In Ian Fleming's James Bond series, hard candies very similar in description to Parma Violets are the favourite sweet of the supervillain Ernst Stavro Blofeld due to their breath freshening properties. During the 18th century, crushed violet petals, rosewater and sugar were combined to make an early type of confectionery known as flower pastry. It consists of milk chocolate with a raspberry and milk flavour filling with freeze-dried raspberry pieces.

d) Any third-party failure that results in the interruption or cancellation of the Competition and/or any Prize that may be associated with the Competition. The prize will consist of 2x 170g Parma Violets, 4x Giant Rolls, 1 Room Spray, 1x small Parma Violets candle, and 1x car air freshener. A small number of the total plants sold were attractively displayed close to the garden centre entrance.It was recently rediscovered in a New Zealand garden and wrongly thought to be something new and given the name ‘Le Roi’ under which it can be found in some Australian nursery catalogues. But those nurseries that grew this sweet scented little flower were actually at nearby Tickenham and not in the Victorian town of Clevedon. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.