Vinca minor Valentin

Vinca minor Valentin is a selection of lesser periwinkle, with abundant flowers, dense and perpetual, which offers very light blue flowers in spring and late summer, so numerous that they touch above its beautiful glossy foliage. They have an extraordinary brightness, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the light is dimmer and the flowers start to shine. The plant shows vigorous, evergreen growth in winter, and particularly rapid development. Its growth creeps between the roots of trees, in poor soils and even in full sun. It can be used as a groundcover, in pots or hanging baskets.

The lesser periwinkle, in Latin Vinca minor, is a creeping perennial with semi-woody stems from the Apocynaceae family. The species is native to central and southern Europe. It populates woods, hedges, rocks, and even dry and sunny meadows, and can sometimes become invasive. The 'Valentin' cultivar stands out for the abundance of its beautiful star-shaped flowers in a very bright light blue. This plant develops from a woody climbing stem base, producing creeping or erect stems, forming a dense carpet 20 cm (8in) tall and 50 cm (20in) or more wide. When in contact with the ground, the stems emit vigorous roots that allow the plant to continue its lateral growth. The stems bear opposite, ovate, medium to dark green, shiny leaves. They produce solitary terminal flowers composed of five square, asymmetrical petals in April, and again in September-October.

The periwinkles are useful ground covers, but sometimes invasive. They even spread in shaded areas, although they are slightly less floriferous there. They eventually form dense interwoven mats, effectively covering the ground under trees or bushes, not fearing their roots. These perennials also thrive in rockeries or along pathways. Vinca minor Valentin forms a beautiful combination with Geranium nodosum, Dichondra repens or the Ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis), in a slightly wild understory. 'Gloire de Marengo' Ivy, with its fabulous cream-variegated grey-green leaves, also forms a beautiful association with this lesser periwinkle Valentin in regions with mild winters.