2002- The Year of Vinca |
Clear flower colors and glossy green leaves make vinca indispensable for season-long interest in the garden and in containers. Add practically no maintenance to these drought tolerant plants and you have a winning combination. Native to Madagascar, vinca acts as an annual in most regions of North America. It blooms beautifully from the first warm days of late spring to the first frost in fall.The National Garden Bureau designates 2002 as the 'Year of the Vinca' since the plants provide so much garden color with little care.
Vinca, Periwinkle or Madagascar Periwinkle?
Vinca is one of the best examples of why you need to know botanical names. Known variously as vinca, periwinkle, and Madagascar periwinkle, summer-flowering vinca is known botanically as Catharanthus. It is easily, and often!, confused with Vinca minor and Vinca major. All of them are members of the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, but Catharanthus likes the exact opposite conditions of its cousins, which are also called by the common name "vinca".
Catharanthus prefers sunny, hot conditions and blooms all summer until frost. The cousins, Vinca minor and Vinca major, are evergreen vining ground cover plants for shade that produce lovely, generally blue, flowers in spring; they are propagated from cuttings not seed. Another cousin, called Vinca vine, Vinca major, is a trailing vine with soft green leaves variegated whitish-yellow; it is popular for use in containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets.
Landscape Usage
Use Vinca to edge a border of annual or perennial flowers, to weave color through a bed, or in containers. Even the most vibrant Vinca flower colors tend to be soft in hue so they never overpower other flowers. The appealing central eye on each bloom adds a bright, cheery note to any garden. When not in bloom (which is seldom) the plants offer a neat, green edge around the perimeter of a garden or along a walk or driveway. Planted as a ground cover, they fill in empty spaces within a border. |
Culture & Selection
Mulch the soil around the plants, not only to help the soil conserve moisture and to deter weeds but also to protect the plants during inordinately rainy weather. A layer of mulch, such as bark chips, helps minimize splashing, which can transfer fungal spores from soil to leaves.Fertilize monthly with a granular or water-soluble fertilizer.Water infrequently if at all when the plants have become established in the garden.In the midst of a hot summer drought, the leaves may curl up during the day. Don't worry. They will unfurl when evening arrives with its touch of dew.You do not need to groom vinca by removing spent blooms; they drop off. Plants stay neat-looking all season.
Popular cultivars include the following:
'First Kiss Blueberry'- 2 inch violet-blue flowers with a darker eye
'Grape Cooler'- lavendar/pink flowers with a rose eye
'Jaio Dark Red'- 2.5 inch red flowers with a small white eye
'Jaio Scarlet Eye'- rose-colored flowers with a white eye
'Pacifica Burgundy Halo'- 2 inch burgundy flowers with a large white eye
'Peppermint Cooler'- white flowers with a red eye
'Blue Pearl'- soft lavendar/blue with a white eye
Popular plants can also be found in the ‘Tropicana', ‘Pacifica' (which includes the first red-flowered Vinca) and ‘Heatwave' series. |
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Container Culture
Being drought tolerant, Vincas do particularly well in containers, where the soil can dry out quickly. That is not the main reason to use them, however. Their medium height and all-season bloom help you create beautiful combinations and pots of color. Mix them with blue or red salvias, geraniums, zinnias (especially Z. angustifolia), French marigolds, or petunias. Edge a large container of coreopsis or daylilies (particularly Hemerocallis 'Stella d'Oro') with white-, apricot-, or cherry-flowered Vinca. Blend a series of Vinca colors in one pot and edge the planting with some sweet alyssum. Fill a hanging basket with trailing Vincas in shades of white, apricot, pink, or rose.
Select a container with drainage holes in the bottom or sides so the soil does not become waterlogged. Use a packaged potting mix or a soil-less mix; do not use garden soil. Garden soil often contains weed seeds and is quite heavy when wet. If you plan to move the container around or you plant a window box for a sill or deck railing, consider using a soil-less mix, which is lightweight. If you want to skip fertilizing the plants during the season, incorporate a controlled-release fertilizer in the mix before planting, though not really necessary with Vinca.Before unpotting the plants, set them on top of the mix in the container and rearrange them until you like the design. Then, unpot and place the plants in the mix at the same level they were growing originally. Water the planting well.
Check the soil in the containers frequently in very hot weather and water as needed. You can wait to water Vinca until the leaves just begin to wilt, but if you plant them with other flowers and vines, figure to water before they reach that stage.Fertilize monthly with a water-soluble plant food, if you did not use a controlled-release fertilizer at planting time.
Problems
Water correctly to prevent most of the fungal diseases that can cause problems for Vinca, including root rot, Botrytis, Alternaria leaf spot, and aerial Phytophthora. The latter is the most common fungus you may find in the garden and the best technique for preventing it is watering with drip irrigation. At the very least, direct water from the hose onto the soil or mulch, not on the plants themselves. Overhead watering splashes the fungal spores onto the leaves and stems. Because Vinca is very drought tolerant, you can water infrequently.In fact, unless you encounter a severe drought, you may not need to provide extra water after the plants get established in the garden.
Pests seldom bother Vinca, although you may occasionally find aphids on the plants.Wash them off with hard spray of water from the garden hose. Larger pests such as rabbits and deer avoid eating Vinca. In deer infested areas, Vincas are highly recommended plants that will provide summer color.
This information is provided by the National Garden Bureau. |
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