Vinca minor Illumination

Vinca minor 'Illumination' is an astonishing small periwinkle with a trailing habit, developing long flexible stems covered with small evergreen leaves variegated with light yellow and margined with green, which is quite unusual. It blooms abundantly in spring, with small blue star-shaped flowers. Its slightly bushy growth will enthusiastically cascade from hanging baskets or creep between the roots of trees, even in poor soil and full sun.

The lesser periwinkle is a creeping perennial with woody stems from the Apocynaceae family, native to central and southern Europe.  'Illumination' stands out for its curiously trailing habit and its bright and original variegated foliage. This plant develops from a woody climbing stem, producing first erect and then trailing stems, forming a dense trailing clump that reaches 20 cm (8in) in height and 60 cm (24in) or more in width. When in contact with the ground, the stems produce vigorous roots that allow the plant to continue its lateral growth. The stems bear opposite, ovate leaves, mostly cream-coloured in the center, irregularly margined with green. This variety blooms in April-May, producing characteristic solitary terminal flowers with a violet-blue colour, composed of five square-shaped, asymmetrical petals.

Periwinkles are useful, sometimes invasive ground covers. They will even spread in shaded areas, although they may be slightly less floriferous. They eventually form thick intermingled mats, effectively covering the ground under trees or bushes, not fearing their roots, in rockeries or along pathways. 'Illumination' is a variety particularly suitable for growing in hanging baskets. It can be paired with the silvery drapes of Dichondra 'Silver Falls'. It also naturalises quite easily in partial shade, in the company of Acanthus mollis, Geranium sanguineum, Geranium Czakor, or Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis), in a slightly wild understory. The 'Gloire de Marengo' ivy, with its fabulous cream-variegated grey-green leaves, will form a beautiful combination with Vinca minor 'Illusion' in regions with mild winters.