Growing Vinca Flowers
Growing vinca flowers will provide your garden with glossy leaves year-round. The vinca, or periwinkle, is a vine that does not climb, but rather sprawls across the ground in a dense mat of shiny dark green leaves spangled with innumerable blue, purple, or white flowers. Although it can be invasive, because shoots will take root wherever they happen to touch the ground, this is not a bad thing if you're looking for fast-growing ground cover that requires very little care.
Climate
Vinca will grow almost anywhere. It prefers a shady location, though it will grow even in full sun. It flowers more the more sun it gets, but with more shade it will produce fuller foliage. Vinca is equally tolerant of both too much rain and of drought. It is hardy up to zone 4 and will also be happy during hot summers, as well. Vinca will grow in any kind of soil from sandy soil to clay. Because of this general tolerance with regard to growing conditions, vinca can be planted in most problem spots. For example, around the base of a tree, in an area where grass refuses to grow, on banks or slopes, and anywhere that groundcover is needed.
Planting
Planting vinca is a breeze. You can root stem cuttings by simply placing the cutting in soil, watering, and waiting. Or you can grow vinca from seeds, by sowing outdoors after all danger of frost has passed or by starting indoors eight to ten weeks before the last frost date, after which time they may be transplanted outdoors. Of course, you can also buy plants from your local nursery. Just mix a little compost or manure with the soil, when you plant the seedlings outside, and water. By the end of the season, plants spaced between six and twelve inches apart will completely cover the ground with little flowers like enchanting stars on the deep green background of the leaves.
