Choosing periwinkles

According to the size and colour of flowers

Periwinkles, known by their Latin name Vinca, produce flowers composed of five petals fused into a corolla, square-shaped, flattened, and open. The two most well-known species are: Vinca minor and Vinca major. The former reaches heights of 15 to 20 cm with flowers measuring 2 to 3 cm in diameter, while the latter grows to 30 to 50 cm tall, with slightly larger flowers, measuring 4 to 5 cm in diameter. Less commonly cultivated, the species Vinca difformis originates from the Mediterranean region; it is similar in size to Vinca minor but is distinguished by its periwinkle flower with elongated petals, finer than those of the other two species. Periwinkles bloom in white, blue, mauve, or purple and plum.

The Vinca minor

The Vinca minor ‘Elisa’ is a white-flowering periwinkle, dense, neat in appearance, very floriferous, and very bright, just like ‘Gertrude Gekyll’, which is particularly low and has a translucent white flower.

The typical species, Vinca minor, blooms in blue, the periwinkle blue. The improvements of the typical species are all more floriferous and express themselves in lavender-blue or mauve-blue, such as ‘Joséfine’ or ‘Marie’.

The Vinca minor ‘Atropurpurea’ offers deep purple flowers, and ‘Multiplex’ features a rare semi-double flower, also in purple.

The Vinca major

The typical species, Vinca major, offers blue flowers and forms a carpet 30 cm high. At the same height, ‘Alba’ is a lovely cultivar with white flowers.

The Vinca difformis

The Vinca difformis features a charming flower of very pale lilac blue. Its thin petals give it a more geometric appearance, like a windmill.

Clockwise: Vinca minor ‘Anna’, Vinca difformis, Vinca minor ‘Atropurpurea’, Vinca major, Vinca minor, Vinca minor ‘Gertrude Jekyll’

According to the colour of the foliage

The green foliage of periwinkles varies from a bright, tender green in the shade to a dark green, which looks lovely in contrast with the flowers. Others are adorned with variegated foliage. All variegated varieties bloom in blue.

Variegated Periwinkles

In Vinca minor, the foliage of ‘Ralph Shugert’ is decorated with a fine white margin that is very striking. ‘Argenteovariegata’, holder of an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society, has more broadly variegated leaves of cream yellow and silver-white margins. ‘Illumination’, more unusual, develops light yellow variegated foliage with green margins.

The Vinca major ‘Variegata’ offers lovely glossy foliage, light green with cream-white margins. The Vinca major ‘Wojo’s Gem’ (nice pronunciation), develops very ornamental and unusual light yellow to cream-white foliage with dark green margins.

Vinca major ‘Variegata’, Vinca major ‘Wojo’s Gem’, Vinca minor ‘Ralph Shugert’

According to the flowering period

Periwinkles love to flower in spring, sometimes as early as February with Vinca minor, particularly the blue-flowered varieties ‘Flower Power’, ‘Marie’, ‘Anna’, and the white variety ‘White Power’. Between March and May, their evergreen foliage is adorned with small, single, flat flowers, occasionally lasting until June.

Some highly floriferous varieties of Vinca minor often bloom again in autumn, in September-October. This includes the early varieties mentioned above ‘Flower Power’, ‘Marie’, ‘Anna’, and ‘White Power’. It also includes ‘Josefine’, which blooms in blue, and ‘Elisa’ and Vinca minor ‘Alba’ with white flowers.

According to hardiness

The Vinca difformis retains a greater sensitivity from its Mediterranean origins: it is only hardy down to -7° C at most, classified in USDA zone 9a, while Vinca minor and major withstand negative temperatures of around -30° C!