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Periwinkles (Vinca)
The periwinkles (genus Vinca) are a group of evergreen, mostly low-growing flowering plants in the dogbane family. Sporting showy purplish flowers and tending to creep and spread quickly, some periwinkles, especially Bigleaf Periwinkle and Dwarf Periwinkle (V. major and V. minor, respectively) are extensively cultivated as ornamental groundcover plants. Like most other members of the dogbane family. many periwinkles are toxic to humans and animals.
Lifespan
Perennial
Plant Type
Herb/Vine
Key Facts About Periwinkles
Feedback
Attributes of Periwinkles
Leaf type
Evergreen
Ideal Temperature
5 - 35 ℃
Scientific Classification of Periwinkles
Distribution of Periwinkles
Feedback
Distribution Map of Periwinkles
Native
Cultivated
Invasive
Potentially invasive
Exotic
No species reported
How to Grow and Care for Periwinkles
Feedback
Periwinkles, known for its vividly coloured flowers, is relatively easy to care for plant genus. It prefers full sun to partial shade, with moderate water needs and well-drained soil. The optimal temperature range for periwinkless lies between 60-80°F. Common challenges faced while growing periwinkless include pests such as aphids and spider mites, and fungal diseases like root rot. Periwinkless also require protection from frost in winter. However, they thrive in other seasons, especially summer, as long as they stay hydrated and guarded from intense afternoon sun.
How to Water Periwinkles?
What Are the Sunlight Requirements for Periwinkles?
How to Propagate Periwinkles?
How to Plant Periwinkles?
Exploring the Periwinkles Plants
Feedback
8 most common species：
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major) is an evergreen shrub native to the Western Mediterranean. It features lavender-colored flowers, and thick, lustrous deep green foliage. To avoid garden invasion and also for ornamental purposes, it's best to grow this plant in hanging pots or in window containers.
Common periwinkle
Common periwinkle (Vinca minor) is a trailing evergreen subshrub that forms large, dense colonies. Because of this quality, common periwinkle is commonly used in landscaping as a groundcover. It is a mildly toxic plant, but due to its pungent taste, it rarely gets ingested in amounts significant enough to cause toxic effects.
Intermediate periwinkle
Intermediate periwinkle, or Vinca difformis, is a flowering evergreen perennial. It produces pale bluish to white flowers and is frequently cultivated for use as a ground cover. However, this plant spreads easily and can become invasive.
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major subsp. major) is an evergreen perennial that will grow to 20 cm tall and 91 cm wide. It blooms from spring through summer with bluish-purple, star-shaped flowers. Prefers dappled sunlight and high-organic soil. It forms dense mats and makes an ideal ground cover, especially in shady areas. Spreads rapidly and is considered invasive in some areas.
Herbaceous periwinkle
Herbaceous periwinkle tends to grow in grassland plains far away from trees and water sources, but is also commonly cultivated in temperate regions in gardens, notably featuring in rock gardens. The common name Herbaceous periwinkle was given due to the colour of its blooms, sporting a distinctive shade of periwinkle.
Common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno'
The common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno' (genus Vinca minor 'Azurea Flore Pleno') are a group of evergreen, mostly low-growing flowering plants in the dogbane family. Sporting showy purplish flowers and tending to creep and spread quickly, some common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno', especially Bigleaf Periwinkle and Dwarf Periwinkle (V. major and V. minor, respectively) are extensively cultivated as ornamental groundcover plants. Like most other members of the dogbane family. many common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno' are toxic to humans and animals.
Common periwinkle 'Illumination'
Common periwinkle 'Illumination' 'Vinca minor 'Illumination'' has young leaves that sport a chartreuse color with dark green edges, which mature to gold and then cream. Mid-spring brings blue-violet flowers. Common periwinkle 'Illumination' 'Vinca minor 'Illumination'' is a cultivar of the common periwinkle 'Illumination', named for its ability to illuminate the landscape with its bright colors. It is favored for its resistance to browsing, drought, and foot traffic.
Periwinkle 'Variegata'
A variant of periwinkle named for its unusual size, periwinkle 'Variegata', or "greater periwinkle," sprouts beautiful blue-white flowers from mid-spring to early autumn. It thrives in full sun and requires very little maintenance. In fact, its ability to proliferate means that it will quickly spread across a garden if not attended to, forming a mass of its own kind.
All Species of Periwinkles
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major) is an evergreen shrub native to the Western Mediterranean. It features lavender-colored flowers, and thick, lustrous deep green foliage. To avoid garden invasion and also for ornamental purposes, it's best to grow this plant in hanging pots or in window containers.
Common periwinkle
Common periwinkle
Common periwinkle (Vinca minor) is a trailing evergreen subshrub that forms large, dense colonies. Because of this quality, common periwinkle is commonly used in landscaping as a groundcover. It is a mildly toxic plant, but due to its pungent taste, it rarely gets ingested in amounts significant enough to cause toxic effects.
Intermediate periwinkle
Intermediate periwinkle
Intermediate periwinkle, or Vinca difformis, is a flowering evergreen perennial. It produces pale bluish to white flowers and is frequently cultivated for use as a ground cover. However, this plant spreads easily and can become invasive.
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major subsp. major) is an evergreen perennial that will grow to 20 cm tall and 91 cm wide. It blooms from spring through summer with bluish-purple, star-shaped flowers. Prefers dappled sunlight and high-organic soil. It forms dense mats and makes an ideal ground cover, especially in shady areas. Spreads rapidly and is considered invasive in some areas.
Herbaceous periwinkle
Herbaceous periwinkle
Herbaceous periwinkle tends to grow in grassland plains far away from trees and water sources, but is also commonly cultivated in temperate regions in gardens, notably featuring in rock gardens. The common name Herbaceous periwinkle was given due to the colour of its blooms, sporting a distinctive shade of periwinkle.
Common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno'
Common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno'
The common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno' (genus Vinca minor 'Azurea Flore Pleno') are a group of evergreen, mostly low-growing flowering plants in the dogbane family. Sporting showy purplish flowers and tending to creep and spread quickly, some common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno', especially Bigleaf Periwinkle and Dwarf Periwinkle (V. major and V. minor, respectively) are extensively cultivated as ornamental groundcover plants. Like most other members of the dogbane family. many common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno' are toxic to humans and animals.
Common periwinkle 'Illumination'
Common periwinkle 'Illumination'
Common periwinkle 'Illumination' 'Vinca minor 'Illumination'' has young leaves that sport a chartreuse color with dark green edges, which mature to gold and then cream. Mid-spring brings blue-violet flowers. Common periwinkle 'Illumination' 'Vinca minor 'Illumination'' is a cultivar of the common periwinkle 'Illumination', named for its ability to illuminate the landscape with its bright colors. It is favored for its resistance to browsing, drought, and foot traffic.
Periwinkle 'Variegata'
Periwinkle 'Variegata'
A variant of periwinkle named for its unusual size, periwinkle 'Variegata', or "greater periwinkle," sprouts beautiful blue-white flowers from mid-spring to early autumn. It thrives in full sun and requires very little maintenance. In fact, its ability to proliferate means that it will quickly spread across a garden if not attended to, forming a mass of its own kind.
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll' is named after the renowned British horticulturist and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. This hybrid shares the brilliant white five-petaled flowers of its parent, but it is much lower-growing, spreading out in a mat to a height of 10 cm. This plant offers excellent ground cover for gardens.
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll' offers a compact mat of small, lance-shaped, glossy, green leaves. Mid-spring brings open, star-shaped pure white flowers. This is a cultivar of the Common periwinkle and is named after Gertrude Jekyll, a British horticulturist and garden designer. It is loved by gardeners for its nectar-rich flowers that attract bees.
Common periwinkle 'La Grave'
Common periwinkle 'La Grave'
Common periwinkle 'La Grave' is a stunning cultivar of the Common Periwinkle, producing mesmerizing deep blue flowers from late spring to summer. Caution: the plant is considered toxic if ingested, so keep it away from pets and children.
Bigleaf periwinkle 'Wojo's Jem'
Bigleaf periwinkle 'Wojo's Jem'
Bigleaf periwinkle 'Wojo's Jem' is a bigleaf periwinkle (Vinca major) cultivar selected for its improved attractive foliage. Unlike its parent plant that features solid green leaves, this cultivar has deep green leaves variegated with irregular creamy markings. Besides its ornamental foliage, it is prized for its purple-blue flowers and mat-forming growth habit.
Common periwinkle 'Bowles's Variety'
Common periwinkle 'Bowles's Variety'
Common periwinkle 'Bowles's Variety', a common periwinkle cultivar, offers masses of purple flowers that bloom from mid-spring through to early summer. These flowers are set among small glossy dark green oval leaves that retain their color through the year. Gardeners like this variety because, in addition to being showy, it is generally pest-free and is easy to grow in most types of soil.
Common periwinkle 'Argenteovariegata'
Common periwinkle 'Argenteovariegata'
Common periwinkle 'Argenteovariegata' is cultivated from Common periwinkle. Its name, 'Argenteovariegata', also describes how it differs from the original species. Unlike other plants in the family with dark green leaves, these are variegated. The leaves are also shorter and broader. It’s cultivated as a stunning groundcover for gardens.
Common periwinkle 'Atropurpurea'
Common periwinkle 'Atropurpurea'
Common periwinkle 'Atropurpurea' is a ground-hugging plant that offers masses of burgundy and red-purple flowers amid small, glossy dark green leaves. It is a cultivar of the Common periwinkle and is named from the Latin word "Atropurpurea", meaning dark purple. Gardeners appreciate this cultivar's low maintenance requirements, as well as its tolerance of most soil types.
Common periwinkle 'Ralph Shugert'
Common periwinkle 'Ralph Shugert'
Common periwinkle 'Ralph Shugert' offers glossy dark leaves with white edges. Mid-spring brings bold, blue-violet flowers. This is a cultivar, patented by nurseryman David Mackenzie from Spring Lake, Michigan, and was named after a fellow nurseryman, Ralph Shugert. Gardeners favor this cultivar for being easy to grow in most soil types.
Maculata Vinca Vine
Maculata Vinca Vine
Vinca major 'Maculata' is an ornamental hybrid that stands out for its attractively variegated dark and light green leaves, which are more striking than the plain green leaves of the parent. Its trailing habit makes this a popular hanging plant that can also be grown in containers and borders. The name 'maculata Vinca Vine' means 'blotched' or 'patchy' in Latin, referring to this hybrid's leaves.
More Popular Genus
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Dracaena
Dracaena are popular house plants that are easy to grow. They can tolerate low-light conditions and require little watering. Their leaves range from variegated to dark green. Their characteristic traits include woody stems that grow slowly but offer a striking appearance for small spaces such as apartments or offices.
Fig trees
Fig trees have been cultivated in many regions for their fruits, particularly the common fig, F. carica. Most of the species have edible fruits, although the common fig is the only one of commercial value. Fig trees are also important food sources for wildlife in the tropics, including monkeys, bats, and insects.
Brambles
Brambles are members of the rose family, and there are hundreds of different types to be found throughout the European countryside. They have been culturally significant for centuries; Christian folklore stories hold that when the devil was thrown from heaven, he landed on a bramble bush. Their vigorous growth habit can tangle into native plants and take over.
Maples
The popular tree family known as maples change the color of their leaves in the fall. Many cultural traditions encourage people to watch the colors change, such as momijigari in Japan. Maples popular options for bonsai art. Alternately, their sap is used to create maple syrup.
Prunus
Prunus is a genus of flowering fruit trees that includes almonds, cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots. These are often known as "stone fruits" because their pits are large seeds or "stones." When prunus trees are damaged, they exhibit "gummosis," a condition in which the tree's gum (similar to sap) is secreted to the bark to help heal external wounds.
Nightshades
Nightshades is a large and diverse genus of plants, with more than 1500 different types worldwide. This genus incorporates both important staple food crops like tomato, potato, and eggplant, but also dangerous poisonous plants from the nightshade family. The name was coined by Pliny the Elder almost two thousand years ago.
Roses
Most species of roses are shrubs or climbing plants that have showy flowers and sharp thorns. They are commonly cultivated for cut flowers or as ornamental plants in gardens due to their attractive appearance, pleasant fragrance, and cultural significance in many countries. The rose hips (fruits) can also be used in jams and teas.
Oaks
Oaks are among the world's longest-lived trees, sometimes growing for over 1,000 years! The oldest known oak tree is in the southern United States and is over 1,500 years old. Oaks produce an exceedingly popular type of wood which is used to make different products, from furniture and flooring to wine barrels and even cosmetic creams.
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About
Key Facts
Distribution
How To Care
All Species
More Genus
Periwinkles
Vinca
The periwinkles (genus Vinca) are a group of evergreen, mostly low-growing flowering plants in the dogbane family. Sporting showy purplish flowers and tending to creep and spread quickly, some periwinkles, especially Bigleaf Periwinkle and Dwarf Periwinkle (V. major and V. minor, respectively) are extensively cultivated as ornamental groundcover plants. Like most other members of the dogbane family. many periwinkles are toxic to humans and animals.
Lifespan
Perennial
Plant Type
Herb/Vine
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Key Facts About Periwinkles
Feedback
Attributes of Periwinkles
Leaf type
Evergreen
Ideal Temperature
5 - 35 ℃
Scientific Classification of Periwinkles
Distribution of Periwinkles
Feedback
Distribution Map of Periwinkles
Native
Cultivated
Invasive
Potentially invasive
Exotic
No species reported
How to Grow and Care for Periwinkles
Feedback
Periwinkles, known for its vividly coloured flowers, is relatively easy to care for plant genus. It prefers full sun to partial shade, with moderate water needs and well-drained soil. The optimal temperature range for periwinkless lies between 60-80°F. Common challenges faced while growing periwinkless include pests such as aphids and spider mites, and fungal diseases like root rot. Periwinkless also require protection from frost in winter. However, they thrive in other seasons, especially summer, as long as they stay hydrated and guarded from intense afternoon sun.
How to Water Periwinkles?
What Are the Sunlight Requirements for Periwinkles?
How to Propagate Periwinkles?
How to Plant Periwinkles?
Exploring the Periwinkles Plants
Feedback
8 most common species：
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major) is an evergreen shrub native to the Western Mediterranean. It features lavender-colored flowers, and thick, lustrous deep green foliage. To avoid garden invasion and also for ornamental purposes, it's best to grow this plant in hanging pots or in window containers.
Common periwinkle
Common periwinkle (Vinca minor) is a trailing evergreen subshrub that forms large, dense colonies. Because of this quality, common periwinkle is commonly used in landscaping as a groundcover. It is a mildly toxic plant, but due to its pungent taste, it rarely gets ingested in amounts significant enough to cause toxic effects.
Intermediate periwinkle
Intermediate periwinkle, or Vinca difformis, is a flowering evergreen perennial. It produces pale bluish to white flowers and is frequently cultivated for use as a ground cover. However, this plant spreads easily and can become invasive.
Greater periwinkle
Greater periwinkle (Vinca major subsp. major) is an evergreen perennial that will grow to 20 cm tall and 91 cm wide. It blooms from spring through summer with bluish-purple, star-shaped flowers. Prefers dappled sunlight and high-organic soil. It forms dense mats and makes an ideal ground cover, especially in shady areas. Spreads rapidly and is considered invasive in some areas.
Show More Species
All Species of Periwinkles
Greater periwinkle
Common periwinkle
Intermediate periwinkle
Greater periwinkle
Herbaceous periwinkle
Common periwinkle 'Azurea Flore Pleno'
Common periwinkle 'Illumination'
Periwinkle 'Variegata'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'Gertrude Jekyll'
Common periwinkle 'La Grave'
Bigleaf periwinkle 'Wojo's Jem'
Common periwinkle 'Bowles's Variety'
Common periwinkle 'Argenteovariegata'
Common periwinkle 'Atropurpurea'
Common periwinkle 'Ralph Shugert'
Maculata Vinca Vine
More Popular Genus
Feedback
Dracaena
Dracaena are popular house plants that are easy to grow. They can tolerate low-light conditions and require little watering. Their leaves range from variegated to dark green. Their characteristic traits include woody stems that grow slowly but offer a striking appearance for small spaces such as apartments or offices.
Fig trees
Fig trees have been cultivated in many regions for their fruits, particularly the common fig, F. carica. Most of the species have edible fruits, although the common fig is the only one of commercial value. Fig trees are also important food sources for wildlife in the tropics, including monkeys, bats, and insects.
Brambles
Brambles are members of the rose family, and there are hundreds of different types to be found throughout the European countryside. They have been culturally significant for centuries; Christian folklore stories hold that when the devil was thrown from heaven, he landed on a bramble bush. Their vigorous growth habit can tangle into native plants and take over.
Maples
The popular tree family known as maples change the color of their leaves in the fall. Many cultural traditions encourage people to watch the colors change, such as momijigari in Japan. Maples popular options for bonsai art. Alternately, their sap is used to create maple syrup.
Prunus
Prunus is a genus of flowering fruit trees that includes almonds, cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines, and apricots. These are often known as "stone fruits" because their pits are large seeds or "stones." When prunus trees are damaged, they exhibit "gummosis," a condition in which the tree's gum (similar to sap) is secreted to the bark to help heal external wounds.
Nightshades
Nightshades is a large and diverse genus of plants, with more than 1500 different types worldwide. This genus incorporates both important staple food crops like tomato, potato, and eggplant, but also dangerous poisonous plants from the nightshade family. The name was coined by Pliny the Elder almost two thousand years ago.
Roses
Most species of roses are shrubs or climbing plants that have showy flowers and sharp thorns. They are commonly cultivated for cut flowers or as ornamental plants in gardens due to their attractive appearance, pleasant fragrance, and cultural significance in many countries. The rose hips (fruits) can also be used in jams and teas.
Oaks
Oaks are among the world's longest-lived trees, sometimes growing for over 1,000 years! The oldest known oak tree is in the southern United States and is over 1,500 years old. Oaks produce an exceedingly popular type of wood which is used to make different products, from furniture and flooring to wine barrels and even cosmetic creams.
Your Ultimate Guide to Plants
Identify grow and nurture the better way!
17,000 local species +400,000 global species studied
Nearly 5 years of research
80+ scholars in botany and gardening
Continue reading in our app - it's better
A database of 400000+ plants
unlimited guides at your fingertips...
unlimited guides at your fingertips...
