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mangledmind

Vinca - pink-eyed

mangledmind
13 years ago

Volunteer VINCA (white with red and pink-eyed) aka Periwinkle, Cooler Peppermint. We planted about a dozen in a box under a front window years ago and haven't seen them for awhile. Guess some of the seeds made it across the pathway and were disturbed with all our new bed construction and the rains we've had this past winter.

{{gwi:403977}}

Keep telling my girl not to step on them, I think they'll look nice in with the raised beds. :)

Comments (7)

  • wabikeguy
    13 years ago

    Very nice. We planted a six pac around the base of our mail box last week. Hope the summer heat doesn't kill em....

  • grant_in_arizona
    13 years ago

    Nice! It's amazing how some seeds survive to re-sprout isn't it?? I just found some self-sown lobelia from previous years' winter containers, and I always get a nice (welcomed!) crop of nasturtiums each autumn (pity those seeds just baking all summer). Love your little babies, keep us posted on how they do.

    I've got a few pots of vincas (hot pink mixed with 'Blackie' dark leaf sweet potatoes) and am doing several of the cascading types too from seed. We're in bullseye in terms of vinca growing and development, LOL. Great plants!

    Thanks for sharing these little winners!
    Take care,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Cascading vinca seed

  • mangledmind
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    wabikeguy,

    If I remember correctly, these should make it thru the summer. We planted these from transplants years ago, and the girl yanked them out of the front window bed when they got leggy and pale (we can't remember how long ago that was, but it's been years).

    We watered (drip line) every other day for about 5-10 minutes via an auto timer, and they lasted for years being neglected :) Yours should do fine.

    grant,

    I was surprised they made all these years. Makes me second guess all those tales I've heard about "old" seed. The "volunteer" patch is about a foot and a half wide and four feet long, running along a flagstone pathway. It gets late afternoon shade, which may help them this summer, provided they aren't trampled or choked by that outta control Black Diamond LOL

    That link for the Cascading Vinca Magenta is pretty cool, gonna have to see if I can find some seeds locally, thanks for the link :)

  • xica_da_silva
    13 years ago

    Ha...I just planted some Vinca to replace my poor foxgloves and coral bells. I too was a bit worried as I understand it's supposed to hit 107 F (!) this week already. Yikes.
    Glad to hear that they're so hardy! Their leaves are so pretty, even without any flowers...good luck with your baby ones!

    I felt horribly guilty pulling up the foxies and bells, because they actually looked kind of pretty in the soft morning light...and the foxgloves...bless 'em, were still shooting out new flowers, although the sun seems to zap them within a day or so. It's as if they knew! In fact, I had to call my mom to get me to do the final deed. She said something like, "it's better to kill them now than to make them suffer a horrible death in the heat that's about to come!". Haha...my mom is one smart cookie! The vincas look really good, though.

  • grant_in_arizona
    13 years ago

    Fun updates. I feel vinca seed is good for several years. Seems like some plants make seeds that last a looooong time if properly stored (cool/dry) like vincas, nasturtiums, stapelia, marigolds, petunias, lettuce etc., and others don't last long at all (don't even get me started on my latest batch of aloe seed from South Africa). Anyway, great job.

    Xica, I ripped out my petunias a few weeks ago and felt sort of bad about it, for a minute, LOL, and once they were replaced with vigorous new vinca or zinnia seedlings the guilt was gone, LOL. Keep us posted on how yours do for you.

    Just for fun, here are two very, very bad pics of my vinca + ornamental sweet potatoes in a big red pot, taken yesterday. Nothing fancy, but hey, it provides summer long color and doesn't need to be fussed over.

    Vinca container with tennis ball to show size

    {{gwi:403985}}

    Vinca and ornamental sweet potato vine

    {{gwi:403987}}


    Here's a pic of my one variegated vinca plant too. I started it from a cutting from plant with a mutated branch in a big commercial planting last year. Good thing I did as the plant was ripped out within a week to be replaced with winter stuff.

    Variegated vinca

    {{gwi:403989}}

    Take care all,
    Grant

    Here is a link that might be useful: Grant's May garden pics

  • mangledmind
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Update on the volunteer Vinca:

    {{gwi:403990}}

    {{gwi:403991}}

  • grant_in_arizona
    13 years ago

    Looking great! I really do like vincas for non stop summer blooms. I see that my cascading types are a mix of colors which suits me just fine. Thanks for the eye candy!

    Take care,
    Grant