#lesser periwinkle

signs of spring 💜💟

Ernest’s spiderwort (Tradescantia ernestiana)

dame’s rocket (Hesperis matronalis)

violet woodsorrel (Oxalis violacea)

blue phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Vinca minor, Apocynaceae

Lesser periwinkle was another of the groundcover species I found in the lightly shaded dry ditch running along a row of Lombardy poplars (Populus nigra ‘Italica’) edging a field. 

This creeping evergreen plant native to much of Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean region is a beauty in the spring and early summer months, with its propeller-shaped flowers in a particular shade of violet-blue -which has given the name to the periwinkle colour- poking through the dark, leathery foliage. 

Although its vigorous habit and ability to thrive in most soils can make it an invasive species in the wrong place, it is a really valuable ornamental plant and numerous cultivars have been selected. Here are three currently in bloom at the garden centre where I work:  

V. minor ‘Ralph Shugert’, named after the Michigan nurseryman who selected it, has large flowers and variegated foliage, with a thin creamy-yellow edge and veining. Some shoots grow completely albino. 

V. minor ‘Illumination’, with foliage splashed with chartreuse-yellow, often taking the entire centre of the leaf. A good groundcover plant to brighten up a shadier corner where not much else grows well.