Vinca

This Vinca began as a tiny transplant.  2 months later, it has become a bush.

Vinca. Penta. Vinca or Penta?  This was one of the most confusing plants for me to identitify when I first began gardening in Tucson.  Today's post is all about the Vinca.  Click on Pentas for more info on this plant.  I wanted to get this post out during our hot summer because if you'd like a reliable plant that flowers all the time, takes the heat, grows rather quickly, and can handle a bit of the afternoon summer sun, you'll love this plant!  And Pentas:)  In an experiment for flowering plants in Tucson, I grouped several of  the Vincas and Pentas together and surprisingly, they both were strong performers in the planters.  During the summer, you will find these plants rather cheap and easy to transplant.  The secret?  The catch?  Water and good gardening soil.  Just make sure you water these two plants regularly and you'll be rewarded with endless blooms.  There is another catch...... 

During the winter, these evergreen plants can and will freeze back if the temps get cold enough.  Pentas are way more frost sensitive than the Vinca.  And Vincas are more aggressive than the proper Penta:)  Vinca can spread and spill over planters, etc if left unattended.  I also noticed several other things about the Vinca in our own garden at El Presidio.  The pinks and reds outperformed the white flowered varieties.  That's not to say that the white flowered Vinca didn't do well; it just grew at a slower rate.  I also noticed the same thing with the Pentas.  Vinca makes a great plant for pots as you see in the above pic.  They can be arranged in eye popping ways that grab people's attention from ugly areas(for example, our former pool space:). There is another variety of Vinca(Vinca major) with blue flowers that gets into everything here!!  But I don't mind and let it spread throughout the space.  If you're looking for color in your garden, this is a must for your flower bed.  More tomorrow....