Catharanthus roseus White - Madagascar periwinkle

Catharanthus roseus Soirée™ White is a hybrid Madagascar periwinkle that updates this balcony plant with its compact habit and its almost uninterrupted white flowering from late spring to autumn. Grown as an annual in our latitudes, it forms neat, regular cushions well-suited to sunny pots, planters, and borders. Capable of flowering even in the heat, this variety is an excellent plant for urban terraces and low-maintenance gardens.

This variety descends from, among others, the wild Catharanthus roseus species, nicknamed the Madagascar periwinkle. It is a tender perennial plant from the Apocynaceae family.
Soirée™ White is part of a latest-generation hybrid series developed by Suntory Flowers. The series includes plants with a very compact, well-branched habit, which flower early in the season and abundantly until autumn. This 'White' cultivar reaches 15-25 cm in height with a spread of 25 to 30 cm in a pot. Its foliage is theoretically evergreen in a tropical climate. The leaves are opposite on the stems, ovate to lanceolate in shape, 3 to 5 cm long, dark green, glossy, with a lighter central vein. The flowers feature an elongated floral tube ending in a corolla with five rounded lobes, 3 cm in diameter in Soirée™ White. They are pure white with a discreet yellow eye. Flowering begins in late May or early June and continues until October.
This selection contains alkaloids in its tissues, which are toxic if ingested, and are the basis for medications used in chemotherapy.

In the garden or in pots, Catharanthus roseus Soirée™ White is a small, very floriferous sun-loving plant, to be placed at the front of a border or in a pot on the terrace, alone or in a mix. It can be paired with small, flexible, and colourful ornamental grasses like Carex testacea Prairie Fire and light summer perennials such as Gaura lindheimeri ‘Whirling Butterflies’. In a large planter, you can combine it with Verbena bonariensis ‘Lollipop’ and Bidens ferulifolia ‘Compact’.

Note: Please be aware, our plug plants are products reserved for experienced gardeners: upon receipt, pot them on and store them under cover (conservatory, greenhouse, cold frame...) at a temperature above 14°C for a few weeks before being placed outdoors once the risk of frost has completely passed.