Viola Beauty Pageant

Welcome one and all to the annual Faire Garden Viola Beauty Pageant. This event is always held mid May, when the volunteer violas have germinated and grown enough to sport full size flowers. There are lots of beauties to show you today, chosen by visiting judges Brokenbeat and Mashley, in addition to the behind the scenes coordinator of this fun for the family event. Let's begin by letting last year's winner walk the runway with her crown one last time. Shown above is Felicity, 2007's Fairest of the Faire, covered in fairy dust, (pine pollen) she has had a whirlwind reign and looks forward to spending some quiet time with her mate and pet butterflies. Thanks for being a good ambassador for the viola kingdom, Felicity. You will be remembered as a sweet and superb beauty.
Here we present our first contestant, Elspeth. Chosen for her blue coloring in varying shades, her petals are well formed and symmetrical. Her whiskers are well defined, enhanced by a yellow throat. It has been rumored in the dressing room that she also has a lilting singing voice, reminiscent of Joni Mitchell in her 'Blue' days.


Hailing from the brick edging of the gravel, Pearl is a pale purist's delight. That tinge of blue atop her upper petals brought her to the attention of the camera wielding judge. Diversity is important in the contest, the rules of qualification should be revealed to the audience now. No store bought violas are considered for this honor. The gravel paths in the knot garden are the location where contestants must be found. This limits the color range for this particular judging to white, yellow, blue and purple, the original planting colors in the quadrants surrounding the clover leaf shaped center of the knot garden. In the future, more store bought violas of the red shades may be introduced in the quads to add fresh pollen lines to the inhabitants here. We shall see about that next fall. But in the meantime, let's continue with the introduction of the finalists, shall we?


This is Roxey. She has endured some nibbling on her petals, but it was felt that she had a Cinderella, diamond in the rough presentation. Her upper petals have a tie dye look to the blue highlights that reminds us that all of these girls are from the hard luck gravel, not having enjoyed the pampered life of the organically enriched flower bed quadrants in the knot garden. They are street wise, make that gravel wise, and that toughness is among the qualities the judges were looking for.

With an aristocratic air, Isis presents herself with dignity and grace. She was voted Miss Congeniality by the girls, and rightly so, for she was always first to offer a leaf to help with a zipper or give advice for romantic troubles so common to this age group.

Meet Gypsy, something of a wild chick. She wears her tops cropped and her jeans ridin' low and tight. She draws attention where ever she shows up. It has been said that she mixes a mean Margharita, heavy on the salt.

The love child of aging hippies, this is Stream. Her blue veining caused a gasp of delight from the judges, and her whiskers are picture perfect.

Trying her hand at modeling, Agnyss has more experience with make up and hair styling than some of the more quiet girls. She has run with the penstemon jet set, but has settled down some recently, seeing the zen of the slow paced life here.

Named Janet by her mother, but she prefers to be called JaNay by her mates, this blue beauty is very proud of the vee shape at the center of her lower petals, as well she should be.

More of a stay at home, with girl next door good looks, Chessie also sports the vee at the bottom of her whiskers. She may be related to Janet.

With a unique petal shape of the lower petal, Renata offers something a little different for viola fanciers. She belongs to the same crowd as Roxey, shown above.

Judge Mashley with the soft heart was drawn to the floppy ear of Inez. We agree that she has a special vulnerable vivacity.

Last but not least is Jessica, with her purple rabbit ears. Her portrait is not as sharp as we wished, but she was a sentimental favorite with her spunky markings, so she is included here.

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There you have the contestants, gentle readers. If you have a preference, strong or slight, let it be known in the form of a comment. Votes will be accepted for a week, afterwards the votes will be tallied and the winner will be announced. Your participation is greatly appreciated by flower and folk alike.

Frances