Common name: Vinca, Periwinkle
Family: Apocynaceae, Dogbane
Height x width: varies with species
Growth rate: fast
Foliage: opposite, glossy, evergreen, flowering and non-flowering stems (photo courtesy commons wikimedia, Roberta F)
Flowers: solitary, funnel-shaped, late spring to early summer, in leaf axils, usually blue
Hardiness: varies with species
Soil: moist, well-drained, tolerates poor and dry
Light: part shade to shade, tolerates sun in North if sufficient moisture
Pests and Problems: leaf spots, stem rot (seldom problems)
Landscape habit, uses: vigorous aggressive groundcover, slopes as for erosion control, woodland gardens, cascading from containers
Other interest: not to be confused with the annual periwinkle Catharanthus; native to Europe; names from the Latin vincio meaning to bind, and later Middle English per wynke meaning same, refering to use in making wreaths which in Middle Ages were placed on heads of criminals on their way to execution; in Italy it was known as Fiore de morte being placed on bodies of dead infants; later and still occasionally today it is known as "Joy of the Ground"
Other culture: not to be planted where aggresive spread among other plants is not desired
Propagation: division of rooted shoots (non-flowering stems root at nodes), layering, cuttings
Species:
• minor (mii' nore)--Common, Littleleaf Periwinkle, zones 4-9,
6-12" x 24-48" or more
Cultivars:
Those marked * are most commonly seen in U.S. commerce although species
are most common.
| Cultivar | species | flowers | foliage |
| 'Alba':f. alba | minor | ||
| f. alba | minor | white | |
| 'Albo-plena' | minor | white, double | |
| 'Albo-variegata' | minor | white | creamy variegated |
| 'Argenteo-variegata' | minor | blue | white variegated |
| *'Atropurpurea' | minor | reddish-purple | |
| 'Aureola':'Golden Bowles' | |||
| 'Aureovariegata' | minor | blue | deep yellow variegated |
| *'Bowle's Variety' | minor | light blue | |
| 'Dart's Blue' | minor | light blue | improved Bowles, less disease |
| 'Elegantissima':'Variegata' | major | ||
| 'Emily Joy' | minor | white, pink blush | |
| 'Flore Pleno' | minor | blue, double | |
| 'Gertrude Jekyll':'Miss Jekyll' | |||
| 'Golden Bowles' | minor | light blue | golden margins |
| subsp. hirsuta | major | blue, narrow | large, hairy |
| 'Honeydew' | minor | lavender blue | chartreuse |
| 'Illumination' | minor | light blue | green edges, gold/white centers |
| 'La Grave':'Bowles Variety' | |||
| 'Maculata' | major | deep blue | golden, green centers, red petioles |
| 'Miss Jekyll' | minor | pure white, many | |
| 'Plena':'Flore Pleno' | |||
| 'Purpurea':'Atropurpurea' | |||
| *'Ralph Shugert' | minor | sky blue | glossy, wide white margins, patented |
| 'Rosea' | minor | pink | |
| 'Rubra':'Atropurpurea' | |||
| *'Sterling Silver' | minor | dark blue | white margins |
| *'Variegata' | major | ||
| 'Variegata' | minor | pale blue | yellow variegated |
('Illumination' photo courtesy photobucket.com, pjsaund)
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