Lesser periwinkle

Synonyms: vinca малая, Vinca ellipticifolia Stokes, Vinca humilis Salisb., Vinca humilis Salisb.

Lesser periwinkle (Vinca minor L.) – a species of the genus Vinca (Vinca L.) of the family Apocynaceae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in Sp. Pl. 1: 209 in 1753. In cultivation since 1306.

Occurs in Europe, the western Mediterranean, the Balkans, Asia Minor, the southern part of European Russia, and the Caucasus. Grows on forest edges, steppe slopes, among shrubs.

Photo S. Bespalov

It is an evergreen subshrub or perennial herb with erect flowering shoots. Stems 1-2 m long, but the plant reaches 15-20 cm in height (in cultivation 50-60 cm). Rooting sterile stems 100-150 cm long.

Rhizome thin, horizontal.

Photo E. Spivakovsky

Leaves opposite, leathery, entire, on short petioles, from broadly lanceolate to ovate, 2-5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, evergreen, acute or blunt, dark green above and gray-green beneath, arranged in whorls of 3. Petioles 2-5 mm long.

Lesser periwinkle. Photo E. Spivakovsky

Flowers 2-3 cm in diameter, solitary, located in the leaf axils. Peduncle 1-3 cm long. Calyx with sepal-like parts, lobes acute, lance-triangular in shape, 3-4 mm long, glabrous. Corolla funnel-shaped, dark-blue or lilac-blue in color. Tube long, cylindrical, up to 12 mm long, slightly expanded in the middle. Limb flat, five-parted, up to 25 mm in diameter. Lobes overlapping, bluntly truncate, 10-12 mm long. Pistil with a pubescent stigma; the connective is expanded at the tip and bent toward the stigma, the back covered in the upper part with long projecting hairs. Filaments broad, almost rounded, cup-shaped and suddenly narrowed and geniculate at the base. Anthers oval, hidden in the corolla tube, up to 4 mm long. Flowers in May-June.

Photo S. Hurst

Fruits – 2 cylindrical follicles. Follicles cylindrical, pointed, greenish, 7-8 mm long. Seeds without a coma, brown, oblong-cylindrical, with tubercles. Embryo straight, surrounded by endosperm. Fruits in August-September.

Forms:

• white-flowered (f. alba);
• double (f. multiplex) — double blue flowers;
• red (f. rubга)
• double red (f. rubra plena) — with purple simple and double flowers;
• variegated-leaved (f. aureo-variegata) — leaves of golden-yellow coloration.
• white-margined (V. minor f. albo-marginata)
• golden-variegated (V. minor f. aureo-variegata)

Hardiness zone: 4a

Site: a shade-loving plant, but tolerates bright sun. Drought-tolerant, yet moisture-loving. Not demanding in fertility, grows in any conditions except extreme ones. Does not like stagnant overmoisture. More decorative on loose, well-drained, fertile loamy soil.

Planting: planting is best carried out in late August – early September or in spring. Recommended spacing between plants 20-30 cm.

Care: the plant responds well to feeding with mineral fertilizer. Manure, compost, or leaf mold can be used.

Pruning: to encourage better bushiness, old and young shoots can be pinched.

Propagation: by layering, stem cuttings, seeds. Cuttings root quickly and can be planted already in early September. Young plantings are recommended to be covered for the winter.

Diseases: powdery mildew, rust

Pests: aphids

Uses: used to create decorative groundcover in shady locations, under trees and shrubs, for creating low and wide borders, in flowerbeds, rock gardens, cemeteries, on gentle bare slopes, and as a trailing (ampelous) plant.