The Garden Pansy often escapes beyond the garden fence and persists for a while. It may become smaller flowered than the normal Garden form, and may have the same variable range of colours. Not to be confused with the true Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor).

Viola tricolor

It can have similar colouring to wild pansy, but petals are usually strongly overlapping and they are larger (usually more than 3.5mm across).  

Photo of flowers

Usually in bare places or short turf close to habitation.

April to October.

Annual or short lived perennial.

Widespread in Britain as an escape from cultivation.

Probably fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland as an escape from cultivation, but hardly ever recorded in the past. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.

It is listed as Alien (casual) in the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011)