Vincas. I had always seen them, but never really paid attention to what they were called. Then I bought some and put them in the garden. I've been blown away by their growth rate and propensity to bloom. I can't believe it took me so long to add them to my list of plants. Vincas ( photo / image / picture from eclecticgarden's Garden )
I lived in south Florida many years ago and they were everywhere in open fields. One of my aunts came to visit and took a bag of sand back home with her, put the sand in a bucket when she got back to Dallas and had a pot full of Vinca (Periwinkles) for the rest of the summer. I couldn't find them in nurseries when I moved back here though. But I have been seeing them in a whole new light this year, there are many spots in my garden that need a re-do and I figure those would be perfect.
One of my aunts has had them growing for years. She made me take some home a couple of years ago. I have red, pinks & whites. This year I found some dark purple ones in the store. I'm really loving all of them... maintenance free and they love my climate. I'll be spreading more of the seeds around to some of the other beds.
Toni, it sounds like you are describing the wild phlox that still adorn the roadways in my neck of the woods. Are these two flowers related?
They aren't related and I wasn't a gardener back then, my Mom's neighbor was and IDed them for me. Oh, wait, this might be another instance of "do not rely on the common name" The neighbor called them Periwinkles. I moved back here in 1977 and didn't start gardening until 2003, when I searched for Periwinkles I got Vinca and not remembering what they looked like 37 years ago I just went with that. Sooooo, Vinca is still what I am going to be planting but most likely the Wild Phlox is what the original plant was. So many common names come from a color or characteristic of the plant, that creates many plants with the same common name. Okay, I have yet another mystery in my past life solved. Now if I could just remember where I put my glasses, life would be so good.
Vinca isn't for the faint of heart! A couple of houses ago, my roommate decided she wanted to plant some ground cover in her garden, and chose vincas because she was told they spread well and were hardy. That first season, they didn't do anything but sit there. Second season there was definitely some spread, and it looked like it was covering that area of garden nicely. Third season and OMG!!! That stuff took over the garden completely, obliterated the existing plants, grew into her fish pond, and started marching purposefully across the lawn and towards the house!!! She cut it back, WAY back, and so then it started growing UP. Yeah, I know....it's a ground cover, but seriously, it grew a foot or more in height! We had a guy come in and weed-whack the you know what out of it!! It didn't do much after that...moving into fall. But by next spring? You guessed it! It was going crazy again. My roommate was tearing her hair out, and rued the day she ever planted the evil stuff!! Of course, your mileage may vary. Different part of the country, different growing conditions, soil etc. Just be warned!!! If you post a picture of you house covered in vines, we'll know what happened!
I have some Vinca that has totally engulfed little statues. At the beginning it was cute but, after you couldn't see things anymore, I began to rip it out. It is beautiful but you had better keep it in check. It surely does the job of keeping out weeds.
I don't imagine there will be any marauding of plants down here....too hot and dry for it to have the energy to run amok. And if it will survive through a summer here and keep out weeds it may have my blessings on it's activities.
friend has had them in tall container. 5X30 feet. They look so nice. Take neglect -high winds, pouring rain. And keeps on blooming on west side of her garage.
Vinca is a must grow for me every summer. I love it's heat tolerance and continual color. This year, I ordered 150 flats of white and red, and I (along with my crews) planted all of it at a well known celebrity's acreage that lives here. He is a Husker fan and we decorated his yard accordingly.
I know of 2 vinca's, a perennial vining plant and an annual, at least this far north. Or are they the same plant? I had the vining kind when I lived in Texas and it did not impress me but I love the continually blooming annual I grow up here.
The type I have isn't vining , but an annual, and pretty easy to control even though it reseeds easily. And there is no deep gnarly roots to struggle with. If it's growing where you don't want it, just give a little tug and it's uprooted. It's a keeper for my garden and will be spreading the seeds around to other parts.
