Periwinkle is a flower that is very popular among amateur gardeners. Its sky-blue or pale purple petals are able to charm at first sight. Many summer residents seek to grow this flower in their area.
Description of Periwinkle: varieties and varieties
Periwinkle is a plant from the Kutrov family. It is a shrub or herbaceous plant, perennial with creeping shoots. It has beautiful and graceful leaves and flowers. Periwinkle spreads on the ground and covers it with a thick "carpet".
Large periwinkle
This plant is very hardy - it grows even in the darkest and driest places.
As a rule, periwinkle is a blue, blue or purple flower, but white, pink, red and purple colors are also found. Its leaves can be painted in any of the shades of green.
In the Middle Ages, it was believed that this plant drives away evil spirits, so amulets were made of it. A periwinkle wreath was hung over the entrance to protect the house from lightning. With the help of a periwinkle, they divined for love and marriage: if the lovers want to never part, they must tear and eat a leaf of periwinkle.
Description of varieties and varieties
Russian gardeners cultivate only some of the most popular varieties.
- Large periwinkle (Vinca major)
A small evergreen shrub covering the soil. The height of its stem rarely exceeds 25 cm.
Its emerald green leaves are larger than all other species. He has bright petals with a diameter of about 5 cm, painted in a color called "first-born" (a shade of blue and blue).
It is interesting! A separate variety of Vinca major Alba is known, covered with large white flowers.
- Periwinkle small (Vinca minor)
Erect perennial herb with long (up to 1 meter) branches. It has strong glossy leaves 3-5 cm long oval and small bluish flowers with a diameter of about 2.5 cm.
Very beautiful variety "Alba" with delicate white petals. The elegant Ralph Shugert variety is widespread, having large flowers of a rich purple hue and dark green oval leaves.
Leaves are edged with white or silver border. There are also varieties with double flowers, with golden leaves, with red or white petals, as well as with green leaves bordered by a white stripe. There are other subspecies: Bowles Variety, Dart's Blue, etc.
- Variegated periwinkle (variegate periwinkle)
One of the varieties of both large and small. Large wide green leaves are covered with yellow, beige or golden spots. Petals of blue, blue or lilac color.
Variegated periwinkle is represented by many varieties, among which the most famous is the variety Illumination ("Illumination"). There is a rare species "Alba variegata", the leaves of which are crowned with a white border.
- Grass periwinkle
It has numerous creeping shoots. On a thin stalk there are lilac or blue flowers in the shape of stars and small light green leaves.
This perennial thermophilic plant needs good shelter for the winter. It grows in meadows, clearings, mountain slopes, in the steppe.
- Periwinkle straight
A herbaceous plant that lives on the slopes of mountains and in rocky terrain. He has erect stems 15-50 cm high, green leathery leaves and flowers of white, light blue or pink.
- Periwinkle pink (Catharanthus)
A shrub 60 cm tall with large (up to 4 cm in diameter) light scarlet or pink flowers. In the middle of the dark green leaves a white vein is noticeable. It is convenient to grow it in the apartment.
For reference! Other names for this species are pink ground, cayenne jasmine, Madagascar winka and lochner.
Landing location, soil
If we talk about such a useful plant as periwinkle, planting and care in the open ground will not require significant effort. This flower feels good both in the sunny and in the shady area.
Variegated (variegated)
For planting, you can choose a shaded place, for example, under the crowns of tall trees, because direct sunlight can burn leaves and petals. Periwinkle should be planted in fertile loose soil with good drainage. Low acid or neutral soil is ideal - the pH should not exceed 6.
This flower should not be planted in heavy and dense clay soil. Plants in which groundwater lies close to the surface of the earth are not suitable for planting: the roots of the flower can rot.
The substrate must be prepared from equal parts of humus, sand, peat and turf. It is necessary to add fertilizers: nitrogen, phosphorus, compost or manure. This stimulates the growth of roots and branches, provides the plant with nutrients.
Interesting fact!In ancient times, periwinkle was considered a magic flower. He was called the flower of love, grave grass, burial ground and witch or witch violet.
Seed planting
Propagation by seeds is an extremely long and laborious process. It is necessary to fertilize and loosen the soil on a shaded area of land, put drainage on the bottom (crushed stone, sand, expanded clay) and prepare the seeds.
How to sow seeds:
- Digging up the bed, add a little compost to the soil.
- On the site, make thin grooves with a depth of 1 cm.
- Sow each seed, sprinkle lightly with soil and water.
Vinca can be propagated by seed in spring or autumn. To do this in the summer, you need to choose a cloudy day for sowing. The plant will bloom only next year.
With this method, not all seeds germinate, so most gardeners propagate periwinkle by cuttings.
Interesting fact! Periwinkle is a perennial and very hardy flower, so many folk beliefs are associated with it. It is considered a symbol of love and memory, so it is often planted in cemeteries.
Planting seedlings
Many gardeners grow vinca from seeds in greenhouses or in a crate in an apartment. When the weather is warm and there is a strong seedling with a good root system, it is transplanted into the open ground.
It is very convenient to propagate the plant by cuttings. Periwinkle spreads on the ground, so in some places the branches produce roots. It is necessary to cut the stalk and dig it in the ground. Soon he will take root. Seedlings and cuttings should be planted on a plot of 20 × 20 cm. The flower should be planted in spring or late autumn.
Watering and loosening the soil
Every plant needs attention and care, even as unpretentious as a periwinkle: but planting and care will not take much time, and the result will please the owner.
Alba Variegata
Watering the periwinkle is necessary only on hot, dry days. In rainy weather, additional watering is not required. It is necessary to regularly loosen the ground and weed weeds.
Breeding methods
Periwinkle can breed in three ways:
- layering;
- by seeds;
- cuttings.
Most often, the first method is chosen, due to its simplicity.
How to propagate by layering:
- In places where the branches touch the ground, the roots often sprout on their own.
- If this does not happen, you need to dig part of the shoot into the ground. After some time, the layers will take root.
- When the branch takes root, cuttings are cut and transplanted.
Feeding and transplanting
It will take only one top dressing with organic or complex mineral fertilizer. The rest of the time, the flower will receive a sufficient amount of nutrients from the soil. Pink catarantus should be fertilized 2 times a month in spring and summer.
Old, faded, and too long shoots need to be cut and nipped. After that, they begin to grow wide.
Periwinkle is transplanted in early spring. There should be a distance of at least 25 cm between the bushes.
Attention! Some gardeners grow this flower at home, in an apartment - small and pink species are suitable for this purpose.
Indoor periwinkle can grow in pots, hanging flower pots, flowerpots, but cultivation and care have one peculiarity. It must be regularly transplanted into a more spacious pot: the roots and shoots grow rapidly, so an annual transplant is required.
Pests and diseases
The periwinkle has strong immunity, which protects it from most diseases. Fungal infections, especially rust, pose a great danger to this plant. Branches and leaves are covered with orange coating. The affected parts must be cut off and burned. For treatment, fungicides are used. The plant must be sprayed three times with an interval of 14 days.
This flower can be bothered by pests, especially aphids. It is necessary to wash the entire plant with soapy water or tincture of lemon peel. In severe situations, insecticides are used.
Flowering period and care after
Periwinkle blooms in late May and the first half of June. Flowering lasts about 30 days. Some varieties can bloom twice a year - in spring and autumn.
Periwinkle
At this time, the plant must be carefully monitored, but any specific care is not required. It is necessary to water as necessary, as well as pinch strongly elongated shoots.
After the flowering period, a strong pruning of the shoots is carried out. You can collect seeds and try to grow new flowers from them.
Attention! Sometimes flower growers seek to find out why the periwinkle does not bloom, dries or turns yellow. In such cases, the flower must be cut and transplanted into fresh soil.
How to prepare for wintering
Periwinkle is a perennial plant that has been living for at least 10 years. A frost-resistant flower is able to withstand short-term frosts.
Variegate species need winter shelter. The plant is covered with fir branches, then semicircular metal supports are placed over it and covered with a special non-woven insulation, and over it with a plastic film. Cold winters without snow are especially dangerous for this flower.
Alba will please with large white flowers
Use in landscape design
Periwinkle is a grass or creeping shrub that easily covers the soil. It is very often used for gardening and landscape design. Growing wide, it spreads along the ground and covers it with a thick carpet.
Small and delicate vinca flowers will decorate the garden and give it a touch of touching defenselessness and, at the same time, endurance. This plant can be grown on slopes and elevations, as well as on stony soil: its contrast with boulders and stones will look very beautiful and spectacular.
It is advisable to plant this flower under tall trees or at the bottom of a multi-tiered flower bed. It creates the perfect backdrop for large flowers and shrubs. It can be grown in hanging flowerpots as an ampel plant. The neighborhood of periwinkle with such flowers as heliantemum (sunflower), saponaria (soap dish), and saxifrage will look very harmonious.
In landscape design
Beneficial features
Periwinkle small has many useful properties. Various medicines are made on its basis: devinkan, vinpocetine, vincapan, vincanor, etc. It contains many alkaloids that have beneficial effects on the vessels of the brain and normalize blood circulation.
Beneficial features:
- improves cerebral circulation;
- expands the vessels of the brain, increases their tone, relieves spasms;
- lowers blood pressure;
- improves the condition of the heart muscle (myocardium);
- reduces the lesion area with ischemic stroke;
- possesses sedative properties, therefore it is useful in tachycardia, depression, encephalitis, stress, neurosis;
This herbal medicine helps with stages 1 and 2 of hypertension, with eye diseases and ENT diseases.
Pink periwinkle contains antitumor alkaloids, therefore, on the basis of it, drugs are used that are used for chemotherapy of oncological diseases - vincristine, vinblastine, vinorelbine.
The benefits that periwinkle brings to health can hardly be overestimated. Its healing properties were known in ancient times.
Interesting fact! The name of this plant is Vinca, which in Latin means "curly, curling". The Latin phrase per vinca in the Polish language was transformed into the word barwinek, which in this form came into Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian.
A modest but elegant periwinkle grows in many corners of the globe. This groundcover flower is unpretentious and can live for many years or even decades. It can be grown in open ground or in a hanging basket.
