Vinca minor ‘Bowles’s Variety’ (‘La Grave’)

Description

Vinca minor ‘Bowles’s Variety’  (‘La Grave’ ( ‘Bowles’s Blue’)

Vinca minor is the lesser Periwinkle, the smaller of the two species most commonly found. Vinca minor ‘La Grave’ (‘Bowles’s Variety’) makes excellent ground cover in almost any soil short of a bog, growing in sun or shade. The small leaves are a deep rich green and a lovely setting for the pale sky blue flowers which are produced in the Spring. The foliage is a little larger than in ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. Each flower is formed from 5 blunt lobes creating a pentagonal outline.

Periwinkle – Vinca

Lesser Periwinkle has more congested growth than either of the two larger evergreen species, making the best choice for ground cover. There is pale ring around each flower’s throat.

There is something quite curious about the flowers of the periwinkle that is not immediately obvious, but quite striking when you look at it more closely. The petals are peculiar in not being symmetrical. If you divide each petal from the centre of the flower to the point you will find that the left lobe is far larger than the right lobe. This is a situation that is in fact very unusual in the plant world.

Medicine

Over 90 separate alkyloids have been isolated from Vinca, many quite toxic. All parts of the plant are poisonous, though in the garden they are unlikely to cause any bother. Just don’t go chewing them. The closely related Madagascar Periwinkle, Catharanthus contains the alkyloids vinblastine and vincristine, both used to produce  drugs that are useful in targetting certain cancers.

Derivation

Vinca derives from the Latin ‘vincio’ = to bind. Thius refers to the use of the long shoots to tie things together and for their use twining around wreaths.

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Botanical Style Photographs