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| I bought some Vinca Minor at Home Depot, simply labeled Vinca Minor, and it looks like a hot mess compared to the Vinca growing at my library. I saw the same flat of Vinca at an expensive nursery, also a hot mess, but twice the price and not labeled at all. The Vinca growing at the library looks like a nice neat carpet. Mine is trailing and a tangled mess. The leaves look the same, mine more yellowed, perhaps over-watered. Same flowers too. Once planted will mine look like a nice darker mat? I'm planting it under a dogwood and want it to look tidy. Are they different varieties? Thanks in advance.
On a side note, I saw another type of Vinca at another pricey nursery, same label, just Vinca Minor, but completely different leaves, the leaves were very dark and glossy and thick and rigid...I think the stems were reddish and wasn't growing upright. Annoying how varieties don't get properly labeled, anywhere. Vinca at library:
My Vinca flat:
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Tue, May 10, 11 at 9:47
| Proper name = invasive nuisance. But, to answer your question... The plants in the flat are desperately growing in length to find some soil in which to make more roots. As each node finds soil and makes roots, it will send up new shoots. Over time, it will fill the area and the shoots will prop each other up. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, May 10, 11 at 9:52
| Both look to be plain ole Vinca minor :-) Plants estabished in the ground will often look different than those on offer at the garden center for various reasons......age, too long confinement in the container, irregular fertilization and watering, shade-loving plants kept in full sun, etc.. If planted in a site-appropriate location and with proper care, yours should eventually look the same as the library's. Sometimes, shearing back the entire planting every now and again will tidy it up, keep the expansion under control, and cause the planting to become more dense. There ARE different varieties of Vinca minor, but they are simply named cultivars with some differing attributes......flower color, variegation on the foliage or bloom production. |
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| So the one at the library isn't Bowles? I thought perhaps mine was common, the other Bowles with less of a trailing habit. And how about the other I described, with the smaller very dark rigid leaves...I tried looking for it on the net, couldn't find it. No nuisance here, it will be confined to a bed and will look much better than the unhappy pachysandra planted there. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Tue, May 10, 11 at 10:35
| 'Bowles' is a more mounding upright form with larger leaves and flowers. It is surmised to be a cross with Vinca major. It is pretty much the standard for most blue flowering periwinkle that is commercially cultivated......the plants shown may well be that variety. One would need to have the species and 'Bowles' side by side to determine the differences. Again, the differences in appearance now are most likely only due to differences in growth conditions - in a container versus established in the ground. FWIW, in the right place and with the right plants, Vinca minor is not a nuisance :-) |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 11 at 11:42
| I wasn't giving a personal opinion. Here's some references... USDA invasive and noxious weed list, letter V Also managed to make USDA forest service weed of the week. The Maryland Native Plant Society (MNPS) and Sierra Club, in cooperation with Charles County and the State of Maryland info at National Invasive Species Info Center |
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- Posted by buyorsell888 Zone 8 Portland OR (My Page) on Wed, May 11, 11 at 15:48
| It really depends on where you live and garden. Vinca minor is a common, not invasive, groundcover here in the PNW. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 11 at 9:42
| BorS has stated it very clearly - the invasiveness of ANY plant is highly dependant on location. What may be invasive in one area may be a very well behaved or innocuous plant in another. There are very few plants that are listed as uniformly invasive across the country and vinca is not one of them. Since we do not know where exactly the OP is located, it's a bit presumptuous to automatically assume he/she is intentionally planting a nuisance plant. And if you'll read the last line of my post, I did say "in the right place and with the right plants, Vinca minor is not a nuisance." |
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- Posted by purpleinopp 8b AL (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 11 at 13:40
| In my first post, the initial response was meant as more of a joke for the benefit of those who know more about this plant than the OP. I didn't intend at all to start one of the "invasive/native/nuisance" things where somebody is all charged up about somebody buying/having/wanting one of these controversial plants. I'm not one of those crusaders but I think I've managed to sound like one. My thoughts on that are more in the live-and-let-live area, but anyway... I apologize to bekind for making a misunderstood joke in her thread. I wasn't assuming anything about intentional planting of a nuisance plant, and never said it was classified as a nuisance everywhere. And I know, gardengal, you qualified your "not nuisance" statement with "dependent upon right plant/right place." I just wanted to provide information on how and where it is invasive/nuisance. She's free to do what she wants with the vinca no matter where she is, and I sincerely hope it brings her joy. I gave her an answer to one of her questions. But, like you said, we don't know where she is. I'm not a supporter or detractor of this plant. Just trying to provide comprehensive info. I also wanted to give bekind more information about the dichotomy of the terms invasive and nuisance. As you and I know, the meaning differs whether in context of one private yard vs. the earth as a whole. I just wanted to give her the means to think about this plant (all plants) both ways so she can have informed thoughts about it, and where to put it. Even in areas where government agencies declare a particular plant to be a nuisance, it can be found behaving in many home gardens. She may not know about how these home garden plants can spread to unknown/unseen areas miles away without the home gardener's knowledge or participation. Maybe she doesn't care, maybe she would like to crusade against invasive plants if she learns about them. I just don't know, just having a discussion... bekind, back to your original question... Vinca minor behaves in the same general way. Some are a little taller, bigger/smaller leaves or flowers, but if it likes where you put it, you will eventually get a dense mat of upright shoots. For the first year or two, you can direct/turn the shoots so they continue to make new roots for more density within their boundary instead of creeping or spilling over the edges. If you have ever grown strawberries, that should give you an idea how they shoot/root/shoot/root their way across a space. |
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- Posted by echinaceamaniac 7 (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 11 at 18:37
| An awesome Vinca is Vinca "Illumination." I have it and it doesn't spread as badly as the other Vincas. I highly recommend that one. I have provided a link of a photo of it if anyone wants to check it out. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Vinca
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| I know ~ just as *someone's trash is another's treasure* ~ I guess! I happen to love my lowly ordinary Vinca & use them where I love to see a thick, lush, shiny, dark-green carpet under my flowering shrubs ~ not to mention a month of Periwinkle-blue cover before the others flash ~ even garden decor look wonderful w/ Periwinkle greens around them! I do ~ as gardengal suggested *shearing back the entire planting every now and again will tidy it up, keep the expansion under control* even tidy up around the bases of my Rose bushes & Hydrangeas & allow occasional soft fringes on the patio edges before another haircut session. I'm certain that given the opportunity Periwinkle will have fun with freedom!!! FWIW |
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| I grow vinca minor in my garden as a groundcover. It is not invasive here - it spreads, yes, but is easily pulled out, if it goes where I don�t want it. I have several varieties with blue, purple and white flowers interplanted. They are all flowering right now. |
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