Garden Club of Cape Coral | Plant this fun flower –- vinca/periwinkle
Whatever you plan to call these fascinating flowering plants, vinca or periwinkle, they are sure to delight! Back in 2022, Hurricane Ian wiped out all my vincas. It was exciting to see their little heads pop up only weeks after the Sept. 28 hurricane and here it is June 2024 and they are prettier than ever. They have “reseeded” again and again with no maintenance.
Vinca/periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) is a perennial in Zones 9-11. The name Catharanthus comes from the Greek for “pure flower.” Many flowering colors include red, purple, white, pink and lavender. Some varieties have a light and dark pink center. They grow 6-8 inches tall. They thrive in full sun to partial shade. However, I have found that they grow bigger and stronger in sun.
These everblooming flowering plants here in Zone 10A are amazing and I highly recommend planting in your gardens for pops of color. In other parts of the country, they are annuals but here, in “Paradise,” they are perennials. Periwinkles make an excellent ground cover and they have “adventitious roots” so you’ll have many beautiful volunteer plants. Some of your plants will last 5 to 10 years. Great to use for garden borders, ground cover or in containers. Foliage is dark green and shiny with five petal blooms. They are native to Europe, Northwest Africa and Southwest Asia.
Periwinkles are an excellent plant for heat and known for their drought tolerance. If your plant becomes too leggy, just cut back and that process will make your plant bushier. Their flowers are rabbit proof and few insects eat them.
Periwinkle plants perform extremely well in our sandy soil. Caring for this plant is minimal. Make sure you do regular hand weeding around all your plants in your garden. Apply fresh mulch as needed to keep the moisture in. Certainly a favorite of mine in my subtropical garden.
Beautiful flowers, easy to grow, minimal care and long-lasting flowers are popping up every day of the year. What more could we want to make a joyful garden!
I wanted to give you some information about this plant in other parts of the world. Believe it or not, this plant is grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant. It is the source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, which are used to treat cancer. In the wild, this plant is an endangered plant due to habitat destruction. It is also widely cultivated and naturalized in subtropical and tropical areas such as Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Australia. And it has so well adapted to Western Australia that it is listed a noxious weed! What an incredible plant!
Giving this beautiful “Catharanthus Roseus” flowering plant a try … you will not be disappointed.
I would like to leave you with this … written by Julie Moir Messervy … “I have found, through the years of practice, that people garden in order to make something grow; to interact with nature; to share, to find sanctuary, to heal, to honor the earth, to leave a mark. Through gardening, we feel whole as we make our personal work of art upon the land.”
Happy gardening!
Ann Block is Past President of the Garden Club of Cape Coral. Visit GardenClubofCapeCoral.com and like us on Facebook.
To reach ANN BLOCK, please email news@breezenewspapers.com