Another purple flower to ID please?

17 years ago

Do you know what this is? Its in various places of the yard, it spreads and sometimes its more like a vine that crawls on the ground. My DH wants to get rid of it because its creeping on the brick by the pool, he thinks its a weed, he think everything is a weed though.

thanks!!!

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Comments (6)

girlgroupgirl
17 years ago
Vinca, the groundcover type of vinca.

GGG
Nancy Schultz
Original Author
17 years ago
thank you! do you know if its OK to trim is now? or is it too late? thanks!
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chris_ont
17 years ago
You can trim that any time. I can be invasive under the right conditions, but pretty easy to control. I usually take a handful and give it a good tug :)
Dana Leigh
16 years ago
True, you have a Vinca. Here in California it is fairly invasive.
Annie
16 years ago
Yes, it's Vinca minor (the common Periwinkle), also called Creeping Myrtle. I have two forms: the variegated Vinca minor, 'Ralph Shugert' and the dark green leafed and deep blue flowering Vinca minor,'Bowles'.
The variegated Ralph Shugert is very pretty. The leaves have creamy edges with reddish-purple flowers and really lights up dark, shadey areas. It is the kind most often added to flower baskets and window boxes for its trailing habit.
The Bowles has larger leaves that are dark green. It clumps more and doesn't run amuk as much as the other varieties and stands up taller than the others too. Its flowers are deep blue or blue-violet.
Don't be afraid to cut it back to the ground ocassionally. I give mine a "hair cut" with the weedeater at least twice a year. It comes back bushier and thicker and blooms better. Otherwise it gets too viney and is a tangled mass and then starts dropping its leaves & going bald. Very unsightly. A good haircut and you get many new flowers and handsome plants.
I love mine. It is especially nice under conifers and other evergreen trees and trees where grass tends to not grow. It is great on slopes to prevent erosion and where you don't like to mow grass. I planted it all over the steep bank in front of my house outside the fence and down the bank to the road. It has filled in so wonderfully and I no longer have to mow it or weed it. It is very dramatic and elegant. I cut it back once or twice a year and that's it!
The original variety was brought to America from Southern Europe by immigrants where it has since become wild. It can be invasive in moist areas.
~ Annie
Molly Adams
16 years ago
is there a way to get grass out of a huge stand of vinca? please tell me i don't have to attack it a blade at a time!!