Periwinkle belongs to the evergreen deciduous creeping shrubs and the Kutrovy family. Its homeland is Asia and North Africa. Now pink periwinkle is common throughout Europe. The Latin name vinca is translated as “wrap around”. This accurately characterizes the periwinkle, as it spreads along the ground. Periwinkle is a symbol of vitality and vitality. There is a legend that a periwinkle, which blossomed at the same time as a violet, complained to Flora that no one was paying attention to him. Flora felt sorry for him and made the periwinkle flowers larger, and also awarded vitality and endurance, which violets do not have.
Description of Vinca Pink
Periwinkle can appear in the form of a creeping shrub, as well as an upright herbaceous plant. The leaves on the shoots are opposite. They have a light or dark green color. In some species, white border or spots are noted on the leaves. The flowers are quite large, mostly blue, but there is also a pink periwinkle, white and purple. Single flowers appear from the axils of the leaves. The whisk has the shape of a funnel with a long cylindrical tube. In the spring, the periwinkle is literally strewn with flowers that rise up. Throughout the growing season, the flowering of periwinkle does not stop, which can not be said of other plants that bloom at the same time with it. Periwinkle also has fruits - these are two leaflets in the shape of a cylinder. Now there are 12 types of periwinkles.
Sowing time
Usually, periwinkle is planted in the spring, but you can do this even in the winter, at a time when the plants are already moving to a dormant state. Sowing is allowed even in the summer, but you should choose a rainy or cloudy day.
The soil for the normal growth of this plant should be neutral or at least slightly acidic. It is not recommended to plant the plant in an open area. Periwinkle will feel much better in the shade or partial shade. If there is no fertile soil on the site, then mature compost should be applied to the beds.
Planting a pink periwinkle and its other species should not cause difficulties even for beginner gardeners. Since it is enough just to dig the beds, make a furrow no more than one centimeter and put the seeds in it. After that, the seeds are sprinkled with loose earth and watered well.
Care Features
Now it’s worth talking about the features of caring for and growing a pink vinca in the garden. Although there are no difficulties in this process, since this plant is one of the most unpretentious of all garden crops.
Periwinkle is watered only in the most extreme cases, when the drought lasts several weeks. If the rains periodically "pamper" your garden, then this will be quite enough for the normal growth and development of this flower. Weeds are not a hindrance to the flowering pink periwinkle. Therefore, gardeners remove them only because of personal hostility, if I may call it that. And the plant itself coexists absolutely normally with them on the same bed.
You can try to increase tillering. To do this, you need to pinch the shoots from time to time. Both old and young shoots are suitable for this.
Pink periwinkle (see photo above) is very good for various top dressing. It is recommended to use balanced mineral and organic fertilizers. Experienced gardeners recommend staying on organic. It can be sheet earth, compost, humus.
When the flowering period of the pink periwinkle ends, it must be cut. If there is a desire to plant a periwinkle on some piece of land, then the trimmed parts of the plant can be used as cuttings that are perfectly accepted.
Breeding methods
Pink periwinkle is a grassy plant for open ground, which is well propagated by seeds, cuttings, and also by dividing the bush. Therefore, problems with breeding plants should not arise.
If you want to try cuttings, you should consider that cuttings need to be planted in spring or late August or early September. They should be located at a distance of 20-30 centimeters from each other. If an evergreen periwinkle is growing on your garden plot, then you can use the horizontal layering technique. Lying stems are simply sprinkled with earth. In a short time, shoots can grow into the ground. And those who decided to try to propagate the periwinkle by dividing the bush, you should consider that this procedure should be carried out exclusively in early spring. This should be the period when the shoots have not yet begun to grow.
Diseases and Pests
In general, a periwinkle is not too often ill, but there are several diseases that can “attack” it. Among them: powdery mildew and rust. Both diseases are fungal, but different drugs are used to combat them. If it is powdery mildew, then for processing you can choose: “Skor”, “Quadris”, “Topaz”, “Topsin”. In the fight against rust, fungicides such as “Topaz”, “Kuproksat” will come in handy, and bordeaux liquid can also be used.
As for pests, the aphid is considered the worst enemy of periwinkle. You can get rid of it with the help of "Fufanon" or "Karbofos". Also for the treatment of plants, in order to destroy aphids, it is recommended to use a soap solution. This is one of the best folk remedies that has proven effective in combating these pests.
How to collect seeds
There is no need to buy seeds every time if you already have a periwinkle on your site. It is much easier to collect them from an existing plant. Although experienced gardeners say that this is not worth doing, since the vegetative propagation of periwinkle is simpler and easier than growing it from seeds. Cuttings take root very quickly, and also does not cause division of the bush.
Large periwinkle
Its homeland is the Crimea, the Caucasus and the Mediterranean. This beautiful plant belongs to perennial. Its stems spread across the entire surface of the earth and create a beautiful flowering carpet. Large leathery leaves are egg-shaped. Their edges have attractive cilia. A leaf can reach a length of eight centimeters, but the flowers are a little smaller - only five centimeters in diameter. The flowers are solitary, located on peduncles, which can reach a height of 40 centimeters. All of them are painted in blue. The beginning of flowering falls in May and lasts a little more than a month. This species is not too afraid of winter, but if there is no snow, it is better to cover the plant with spruce branches.
Periwinkle
In nature, it can be found in the Mediterranean, Asia Minor, as well as in southern Russia. This is a creeping perennial plant that prefers pine and broad-leaved forests, where there are rich soils. The stem of a small periwinkle can reach a length of 60 centimeters. Elliptical, shiny, leathery leaves are located on long petioles. They can reach five centimeters in length. Interestingly, even in winter, they do not lose color and remain evergreen. Blue flowers have the shape of a funnel with a diameter of 2.5 centimeters, located on a peduncle 20 centimeters long. Flowering begins somewhere in late May or early June and lasts no more than one month. Fruits on it are rarely found. They have the appearance of five leaves. For propagation, the vegetative method is often chosen, since it is more reliable. It is important to note that in the culture this variety appeared back in 1306. It is not difficult to care for him, he tolerates winter normally, only in the absence of snow he needs shelter with his spruce branches.
Pubescent periwinkle
You can find this species in the western Caucasus. Shoots spread straight on the ground and in those places where they touch the ground, they begin to sprout. Due to this, by the fall there is a large number of rooted nodes. When this periwinkle blooms, it gives the impression of a loose cover. This is due to the fact that its peduncles with single flowers, which reach a diameter of 3.5 centimeters, rise vertically. Flowers are revealed in May and bloom until the end of June. It is important to note that during the winter period all the leaves of this periwinkle die.
Grass periwinkle
In the wild, a fairly common species. You can find it in Ukraine, Crimea, the Caucasus, as well as in Asia Minor and Central Europe. Creeping shoots are covered with elliptical shiny leaves that fall in winter. Peduncles are not too long - 15 centimeters. They have blue or purple flowers no more than three centimeters in diameter. Like all periwinkles, they bloom from May to June.
Periwinkle pink (Catharanthus)
It is about this periwinkle that is discussed in this article. Recently, it has been bred into a separate genus, which includes eight species. But flower growers are accustomed to calling the catharanthus just a periwinkle. It has the appearance of a shrub that reaches a height of 60 centimeters, which is quite a lot for periwinkles. On erect stems, dark green leaves are located opposite. In length, they can reach seven centimeters. The flowers are placed in the axils of the leaves and, as the name implies, are pink. They begin to bloom in May, and this period continues until the fall. Pink periwinkle (photo in the article) has fruits - a crescent achene. The species began to develop especially rapidly in 1976. Then American scientists began to develop various hybrids of this plant, which today have gained great popularity. German scientists as a result of many years of selection work were able to create a houseplant - pink periwinkle.
Useful properties of periwinkle
It has a pink periwinkle medicinal properties and contraindications. First of all, I want to note all its advantages and benefits that it can bring to a person.
Periwinkles have long been used in pharmacology and medicine, since they contain many useful elements. First of all, an alkaloid that interferes with cell division. Periwinkle is now grown even on an industrial scale to obtain this substance. It is part of immunosuppressants, as well as antitumor agents.
This plant is used in other areas of medicine. So, pubescent and pink periwinkles are used to treat cardiovascular diseases, because they contain: vinyl, pubescin, glycoside and alkaloids of the same action. People suffering from hypertension can be helped by a grassy periwinkle, which includes rutin. We must not forget about the small periwinkle, which has the same cardiac glycosides.
Alkaloids are not the only beneficial substances that can be obtained from periwinkle. They also include:
- tannins;
- anthocyanins;
- organic acids;
- vitamins;
- Sahara;
- mineral salts;
- phenolic compounds;
- steroids.
And preparations made on the basis of periwinkle can help in the treatment of the following diseases:
- cerebrovascular accident;
- ischemia;
- osteochondrosis;
- atherosclerosis;
- psychoses
- vascular lesions;
- schizophrenia;
- autonomic neurosis;
- depression;
- polyneuritis;
- consequences of meningoencephalitis;
- movement coordination disorder;
- various diseases of the throat, ears, nose.
The healing properties of the pink periwinkle and other species of this plant were known back in the days of Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder. Then it was used as a wound healing, astringent, vasodilator, blood purifying and hemostatic agent.
Contraindications
It should be noted that periwinkle is a poisonous plant, so self-medication can be life threatening. You should not take drugs or use folk recipes, which include a periwinkle, without consulting a specialist. An overdose can result in inhibition of cardiac activity. Pregnant women should not use drugs that include vinca. Therefore, women in position should carefully study the composition of the drugs, and also not take medications without consulting a gynecologist.