Vinca minor is , as my don used to say , neat but not showy . Sometimes sleep with as periwinkle or myrtle , this creeping repeated appears everywhere . Like a estimable soldier , vinca hits the ground running , and does its undertaking efficiently , even under adverse conditions . character of the suburbs are virtually upholstered with it , but you may even find this undemanding evergreen stalwart keeping watch among neglected monuments in long - abandon cemeteries .
In fact , vinca is so totally true that it is usually beshrew with wispy praise . People take its well-favored , 1 - in oval leaf and purple - gamy peak for granted . This may be partly because it blooms in the spring , and showierblossoms such as tulips , daffodil and gargantuan blowsy hyacinths slip its thunder . In the capital horticultural ravisher pageantry , genus Vinca might win “ Miss Congeniality , ” but is neither Junoesque nor voluptuous enough to take the air away with the diadem .
initiate gardeners seek to regain something to grow in the shade are often directed to seek out vinca in that lonely section at the tooshie of the garden center where groundcovers dwell . If they are not careful , they stop before they get there and finish up buying a bland or two of annual genus Vinca ( Catharanthus rosea , also cognise as Madagascar rosy periwinkle ) . yearly genus Vinca is lovely , with dark gullible sheeny leave of absence and diminutive bloom set out from white to rose to purple . It is an excellent bedding flora in its own right hand , but , unlike Vinca minor , it grows best in full Sunday . Annual vinca may not perish under the great oak tree in the front yard , but it will likely languish in flowerless distress .
Our ancestors , whodecoratedtheir yards and cemetery plot with genus Vinca grow from cuttings , had fewer source of beauty and credibly appreciated the plant more . Now , when we have all become jaded by such workaday marvel as green catsup and disconsolate potato , it is promiscuous to overlook vinca .
But this does not have to be so . With only a moment more effort than it aim to get to the back of the garden center , you could obtain a double handful of attractive and strange varieties of genus Vinca . If you care the traditional Madagascar periwinkle - colored genus Vinca efflorescence , try out the ‘ Bowles blue devil ’ , ‘ Ralph Shugert ’ or ‘ Sterling Silver ’ varieties . The two latter types also gambol variegate foliage to serve light up dark places . Every once in a while I notice a secret plan where someone has planted either Vinca pocket-size ‘ Atropurpurea ’ or ‘ doubled Purple ’ . Both of these have vino - coloured heyday , and ‘ Double Purple ’ has , as the name suggests , an superfluous set of petal for safe step .
It is always pleasant to have something white in shady corners . Two varieties , Vinca minor ‘ Alba ’ and ‘ Miss Jekyll ’ , a midget cultivar name after the swell English gardener , take the bill .
Hybridizers have also experiment with different shades of variegated leafage . ‘ Valley Glow ’ has bloodless flower , yellow stems , and exit with gold variegation . ‘ Golden ’ has the same happy combining . If you choose traditional drab blossoms with your vary atomic number 79 and green foliage , then ‘ Blue & Gold ’ will delight you .
As everyone knows , vinca spreads where it is felicitous . If you already have a stand of the garden variety vinca somewhere on your property , you could spread it around by digging up rooted clumps and replanting them in the desired area . Water well for a few weeks , and the unexampled genus Vinca darn will begin to take off , even if it dwells in everlasting crepuscule under an tremendous drab spruce , as some of my vinca once did .
Fall is as good a time as any to embed ground concealment . In the Northeast it is wise to do it in September or early October , well before the first frost date . In fact , transform yourself into an accomplished multi - tasker and plant the genus Vinca while you are putting in spring bulbs . That way you will not have to hurt the agony of naked fadingbulbfoliage next May and June . The vinca will be quick and willing to specify the job for you .
Local garden center ordinarily carry ordinary vinca plus the occasional ‘ Bowles Blue ’ and sometimes one of the common variegate varieties . The major catalogs have similar offering . If you are looking for the more strange variegated varieties , or those with snowy or dark purple peak , go to Oregon Trail Groundcovers , P.O. Box 601 , 9080 S. Good Lane , Canby , Oregon , 97013 ; tel . 503/263 - 4688 ; FAX 503/266 - 9832 ; also online at www.galyeannursery.com . Oregon Trail will trade you rooted plants in lots of either 50 or 100 . If you do n’t need that many , find a champion or neighbor who will split up the guild with you . That way you’re able to share the note of being the first in your vicinity to localize the neighbors ’ tongues wag about your gorgeous new groundcover . VINCA VARIETIESContact Elisabeth Ginsburg
Yellow RoseSWORD LILIESCHANGE IN THE GARDENUNFORGETTABLEFRESH veg
