Hello again, plant family! I cannot believe we are already into May. Just as the old rhyme proclaims, our April showers have indeed led to May flowers and I have one in particular I would like to share about this month. It may be strange to have a beef with a lavender colored bloom, but at 38 years old I feel this is the most excitement I can handle.
As a librarian that works at a branch that is open seven days a week, my work schedule is a bit different than most. I work from Sunday to Thursday, with Friday and Saturday as my weekend. After weeks of patient waiting, I finally had a Friday morning that was neither wet nor freezing cold and I pounced on the opportunity to attack the periwinkle (Vinca minor) that had rapidly started to take over the front yard of our little townhouse.
When you look at it, periwinkle is a lovely plant. Its green leaves and light purple star-shaped flowers are pleasing to look at. My landlord must have planted it as a form of ground cover for the flower beds. However, unfortunately, periwinkle does not like to stay in one place and rapidly takes over anywhere it can sprout a runner. I even had to pry roots out of the concrete steps! What makes matters worse, is periwinkle is not native to Virginia and thus chokes out native species which feed our native pollinators which make all of our plants grow. As beautiful as it is, it had to go.
Periwinkle is classified as invasive throughout the east coast, including Arlington and Alexandria in Virginia. Originating from the Mediterranean, the decorative plant was introduced to the United States in the 1700s. It has many names, including the somber moniker “fiore de morte” (flower of death) in Italy because it is often used to make a wreath to place over the graves of children. In the United States periwinkle was also historically planted at gravesites to add beauty and also prevent weeds from growing up among the gravestones. As a result, a large amount of periwinkle found in a field or forest is a potential indicator of an old cemetery. Many graveyards of enslaved individuals in particular have been discovered this way, as they were often unable to mark the graves with stones.
When choosing plants to use as ground cover in your gardens and flowerbeds, it’s best to go the native plant route to avoid the 3 hours of runner pulling that I endured in the space of half a postage stamp. The Northern Virginia Master Gardeners website offers a few alternatives that provide just as much coverage and beauty as the often more exasperating Vinca minor. The site lists Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), Moss flox (Phlox subulata) and Wild Pink (Silene caroliniana) as potential substitutes that will do just as nicely. I should note, these suggestions come from the Northern Virginia Master Gardeners page, and while these plants are likely also good suggestions for the Valley, it might be worth checking with a member of your local Central Shenandoah Valley chapter of Master Gardeners for confirmation. You can find their website at www.csvmga.org and it lists a lot of really helpful resources for finding and contacting the Master Gardeners in your area.
At the end of my toil, I was rewarded with not just one but two living hydrangea bushes that I thought for sure had been smothered to death. It was a happy morning, despite my back deciding that all of that effort shows I’m closer to forty than ever before. I have included photos of the before and after just to get an idea of how crazy periwinkle can become! Happy gardening!
