Lesser Periwinkle Plants

Vinca minor, Lesser Periwinkle Plants

Vinca minor is low growing ground cover that suppresses weeds beautifully without being too invasive. A go-to choice for hiding bare, shady spots, it is popular with parents of small children and urban planners because it can take a fair amount of trampling without complaint, and for bonus points deer and rabbits don't like it. It has evergreen leaves and pale blue flowers from May to October. It is really a short vine that roots easily where it touches the soil, so it can be used to spill over the edges of pots and walls.
Browse our other ground cover plants, or all of our shrubs.

Features:

• Pale blue-violet flowers
• Evergreen
• Flowering: May-Oct
• Height x Spread: 20 x 30cm
• Tough ground cover & informal edging.
• Thrives in the shade

Growing Vinca minor

Suitable for any well drained soil, they prefer a bit of shade to full sun, and will plod along in full shade. Mature plants in the shade are moderately drought tolerant, but we stress that they are shallow rooted and young plants are sensitive to drying out for their first couple of years, until they get big enough to shade the soil well by themselves, so water them diligently during that time. In full sun, mature will need some watering during dry summer spells.

Their roots are not aggressive enough to be considered really invasive, but left unchecked, their stems tend to grow through and slowly smother small plants up to about 30cm high. Anything taller than that should be fine.

In Your Garden Design

A more sedate plant than its cousin Vinca Atropurpurea - much less prone to spreading but still an excellent choice for ground cover in that difficult shady spot with its attractive mauve flowers. The perfect combination for them is hellebores and hostas, and those other shade-friendly plants, fluffy astilbes. Rodgersias, Golden Shield ferns and Astrantia Star of Passion would work well too.

Did You Know?

Periwinkles come from a family commonly known as Dogbane. Aside from looking lovely in floral displays, they often have deep cultural and religious significance, symbolising love, trust and faith. Brides will use them in their bouquets as "something blue". The old English word for periwinkle was Parwynke, a word found in the works of Chaucer. They are often attributed with medicinal properties found in traditional Ayurvedic and Chineses remedies. Vinca minor is meant to have elements within it that help combat dementia.