Vinca Minor

November 17, 2024 Post a Comment

Vinca minor

Periwinkle or Vinca minor is used as an ornamental groundcover. The leaves are glossy and the purple flowers are a delight. Here's the problem: This invasive plant can easily spread outside of our gardens. It invades natural spaces, gets established and pushes out the native plants.

Does vinca like sun or shade?

Vinca Flower Care They do well in full sun to part shade, and can tolerate some drought, although they flower best with regular watering. Check out the top 15 easy flowers anyone can grow.

Does Vinca minor come back every year?

Growth Rate. Vinca is grown as an annual. It will often return in following summers from self-sown seed.

Is Vinca minor a good ground cover?

Tough, low-maintenance, and pest-free, Vinca minor (commonly known as periwinkle) has pretty broadleaf foliage and flowers that thrive in the sun or shade. It is also useful for providing ground cover and is known for its creeping habit.

Will Vinca minor choke out other plants?

Vinca minor, also known as just vinca or periwinkle, is a fast growing, easy groundcover. It's appealing to gardeners and homeowners needing to cover areas of the yard as an alternative to grass. This creeping plant can be invasive though, choking out native plants.

What is the difference between vinca and Vinca minor?

Vinca minor has slick, dark-green leaves and blue blossoms; Vinca major has soft green leaves and yellowish-white flowers. Both are used as vining ground covers and work well in containers, window boxes and hanging baskets. All Vinca flowers are single, and most varieties have overlapping petals.

How do you keep vincas blooming?

Keep potted vinca blooming well by fertilizing regularly with any general-purpose garden fertilizer. Be sure to follow the directions on the product packaging. If you have good or average soil, you typically don't need to fertilize vinca growing in gardens and landscapes.

How long will vincas last?

These all bloom from early summer to frost and are hardy in USDA zones 9 through 12.

Do vincas do well in pots?

Vinca is very easy to grow in containers and is typically maintenance free. Be sure that the container you choose has drainage holes. Water your Vinca when the top two inches of soil feels dry. Place the pot in a location that will get partial to full sun daily.

Should I cut back Vinca minor?

Typically, pruning a Vinca is not a necessary maintenance task for this plant as it is considered a self cleaning plant. You can always pinch off the plant to improve its appearance, as well as to encourage a bushier plant. Vinca is often used as a groundcover in landscape areas.

What do I do with vinca in the winter?

Container Vincas can be brought indoors for the cold weather months. Be sure that your Vinca has a warm sunny place in the home. WAter only when the soil feels dry one inch down.

What do you do with vincas at the end of the season?

Answer: Give the plants a light trimming to stimulate fall growth and flowers. Common flowering vinca, also known as periwinkles, are cold-sensitive and growth should slow shortly. These are also long-lived annuals, which means they can survive for several seasons but often decline during the winter.

Can vinca survive the winter?

Flowering Vinca is one of several plants that so prefer warm (even hot) weather that chilly nights, even when temperatures remain above freezing, cause them to wilt.

Can Vinca minor take full sun?

The plant tolerates high heat and close to full shade, but prefers full or partial sun, although its leaves can tend to yellow in full sun. Plant in moist, organic soils. When using as a groundcover, plant 8 inches apart for quick cover of smaller areas and 12 to 18 inches apart for large areas.

Does Vinca minor bloom all summer?

Plants bloom in March or April and sometimes again in the fall. Vinca minor grows about 6 inches tall, spreading in all directions by sending out long trailing and rooting shoots, which make new plants.

Why is the periwinkle a problem?

Big periwinkle spreads rapidly, especially in riparian areas, creeks, and drainages. Once it is established, big periwinkle forms a thick ground cover, choking out native plants and changing the ecology of the area. Particularly bad infestations can alter local hydrology.

What grows well with Vinca minor?

Complement your Vinca, Perennial with these varieties:

Hellebore. The early flowers of Hellebore contrast nicely with the evergreen foliage and spring bloom of Perennial Vinca.
Hosta. Plant Perennial Vinca in your shade garden and let it ramble around taller perennials like Hosta.
Astilbe.

Does Vinca minor need a lot of water?

Vincas need regular watering but do not overwater as they are drought tolerant. Do not water late in the day so that the soil has a chance to dry out before night. Only water when the top 1-2 inches of soil are dry. Pests and diseases are usually not an issue with this plant.

Do vincas spread out?

SPREAD: the plant is quite favourable to growth and therefore a small plant can spread to the area covering 8 feet. Thus you can grow a small plant depending upon the area where you want it to be spread. The Vinca vines keep on spreading and cover the ample area.

Is Vinca minor good for shade?

Vinca minor is a tough, low-maintenance perennial that will cope with many conditions in the garden, including sun or shade. It has glossy evergreen leaves and star-shaped flowers that are white or mauve, depending on the variety, from spring to autumn.