Vinca minor Anna

Vinca minor 'Anna' is a beautiful improvement of Vinca minor. More floriferous, it blooms in spring and often again in autumn, with flowers deep lavender blue above a compact medium green foliage, evergreen and glossy. Its vigorous and particularly fast growth infiltrates between the roots of trees, in poor soils and even in full sun. It can be used as ground cover, in pots or even hanging baskets.

Vinca with small flowers is a creeping perennial with woody stems from the Apocynaceae family, originating from central and southern Europe.  'Anna' stands out for the duration of its pretty star-shaped flowers of intense lavender blue. This plant develops from a woody climbing stem, producing creeping or upright stems, forming a dense carpet from 15 cm (6in) in height up to 100 cm (39in) in width. In contact with the ground, the stems produce vigorous roots that allow this plant to continue its lateral growth. The stems bear opposite, ovate, medium green, glossy leaves, and produce solitary terminal flowers from May to September, composed of five square, asymmetrical petals.

This Vinca with small flowers is a useful, sometimes invasive groundcover. It will spread even in shaded areas, although it may be slightly less floriferous. It eventually forms thick intertwined mats, effectively covering the ground under trees or bushes, in rockeries or along pathways. It easily naturalises, in the company of Acanthus mollis, Geranium nodosum, Geranium Czakor, Dichondra repens or Ruine de Rome (Cymbalaria muralis), in a slightly wild understory. The ivy 'Gloire de Marengo', with its fabulous cream-variegated grey-green leaves, will form a beautiful association with Vinca minor 'Anna', in regions where winter is not too harsh. The compact habit of this variety is also suitable for filling pots.

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