Can someone identify this plant?

lalawson 4/28/2013, 2:14 pm

I think I posted this in Non- SFG forum but if I didn't put this in the right spot please forgive me. I do have SFG's in the backyard but I've been working on our front landscape and came across this plant. I don't remember it being here last year but it is sooo pretty. I want someone to tell me it's not a weed so I can keep it and maybe let it spread. Thanks in advance Smile

Can someone identify this plant? Edited12

lalawson 4/28/2013, 2:48 pm

ps: it's the one with the little purple flowers

Judy McConnell 4/28/2013, 2:55 pm

Vinca minor
Plant:Vinca minor, Lesser periwinkle and Dwarf periwinkle, is a plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey

CapeCoddess 4/28/2013, 3:35 pm

oooo, a variegated vinca. Pretty. I've always wanted one of those ('cept I'm NOT buying ANY MORE PLANTS!) Mine have glossy dark green leaves, and it seems to be a bit invasive. I find it everywhere.

CC

lalawson 4/28/2013, 8:07 pm

Thank you!!! I did some research and saw where it is very invasive.... but ohhh so pretty. Where it's growing now will be fine for a ground cover. Lots of room for it to spread. I just don't think I'll plant any annuals in the area because I've heard it will strangle out smaller plants. It's next to some daffodils and a weeping cherry tree so it should probably be fine there. Just wonder where it came from...

plantoid 4/29/2013, 4:37 am

lalawson wrote:Thank you!!! I did some research and saw where it is very invasive.... but ohhh so pretty. Where it's growing now will be fine for a ground cover. Lots of room for it to spread. I just don't think I'll plant any annuals in the area because I've heard it will strangle out smaller plants. It's next to some daffodils and a weeping cherry tree so it should probably be fine there. Just wonder where it came from...

Come back in a years time and tell us how you still love that weed of a plant Laughing

I had to clear out a 20 x 10 foot patch at the last place I lived , tried to hit it with the hover mower and it just laughed at the mower .
It took ages to steadily dig out and it still came back from little bits that got missed first time around ended up using a week killer called SBK to finally sort it out. .

lalawson 4/29/2013, 7:47 am

I hear you lol.... I was just thinking about how I am going to handle this if it gets out of hand..... My thinking now is to maybe transplant it to a pot to control it somewhat. It's only about a 4 x 2 section now, so I'd better take care of this now before it gets to much to handle.

**camprn** 4/29/2013, 8:02 am

This plant does make a great ground cover and is relatively easy to control with barriers or edging or regularly using an edging tool. Propagation is my root cuttings and the roots are typically shallow. Easy to lift with a garden fork. But it is work if it get very much out of control. Regular management is the key.

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/vine/vinspp/all.html

audrey.jeanne.roberts 4/29/2013, 12:40 pm

camprn wrote:This plant does make a great ground cover and is relatively easy to control with barriers or edging or regularly using an edging tool. Propagation is my root cuttings and the roots are typically shallow. Easy to lift with a garden fork. But it is work if it get very much out of control. Regular management is the key.

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/vine/vinspp/all.html

OMG! I have never found it easy to control no matter how regular the management. It's ideal for some place where you will never plant anything else and want it to remain green and lush.

We used it on the hillside of our last property that is in the mountains of CA and is prone to fire. It was our fire break as our home was on a significant rise and fire loves to race uphill.

It virtually strangled rose bushes, covered everything in its path and took over the garden :-( It required much more maintenance than it saved. The one good thing about it however, is that in any area where it is the ground cover, weeds aren't much of an issue if any can grow at all.

Goosegirl 4/29/2013, 8:13 pm

When I was a kid in CA I had a bed that I planted with mint and vinca. They battled for a few years. Vinca won. Shocked

GG

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Can someone identify this plant?

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Yes, this is a variegated form

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