Vinca minor Green Carpet

Vinca minor 'Green Carpet' is a fast-growing selection of the lesser periwinkle with excellent ground cover capabilities. Its leaves are smaller and more tightly packed than those of the species and its flowers are paler. It quickly forms a low, dense carpet that stays green in winter and is adorned with small mauve-blue star-shaped flowers in spring. This is a hardy perennial that thrives in all exposures and all soils, even dry in summer.

The lesser periwinkle, in Latin Vinca minor, is a creeping perennial with woody stems from the Apocynaceae family, native to central and southern Europe. It populates woods, hedges, rocks, and even dry and sunny meadows, and can sometimes become invasive. 'Green Carpet', as its name suggests, stands out for its ability to form a superb green carpet. This plant develops from a woody base, producing creeping stems. Its dense vegetation measures 15 cm (6in) high and 1 m (3ft) or more in spread. On contact with the ground, the stems produce vigorous roots that allow the plant to continue its lateral growth. The stems bear opposite, ovate, green, glossy leaves, 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2in) long. Flowering occurs from March to May-June, depending on the climate in the form of solitary terminal, light mauve-blue flowers composed of 5 petals.

Periwinkles are useful ground covers that can become invasive. They will spread even in shaded areas, although they may be slightly less floriferous. These perennials eventually form thick intertwined mats, effectively covering the ground under trees or bushes, not minding their roots, as well as in rockeries or along pathways. Vinca 'Green Carpet' will easily naturalise in shade or partial shade, alongside Acanthus mollis, Dichondra repens, or Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis). It can be planted in a slightly wild understory, even under a hedge of thuja or cypress. In the sun, it will accompany snow-in-summer (Cerastium), capeweed (Phyla nodiflora), 'Red Carpet' thyme, and many other ground covers... Also use this periwinkle in containers or flower pots to dress up the base of taller plants.