How to Take Care of Myrtle or Vinca in the Flower Garden

Use vinca in a hanging basket for a cascade of color.

It has several nicknames: vinca minor, periwinkle and creeping myrtle. Whatever you choose to call it, vinca is a flowering vine used as a groundcover or as an ornamental hanging plant. The real value of vinca to the gardener is that it not only thrives in the shade, it flowers, with charming blue-to-purple flowers, in May and June. It will grow in sandy or clay soil and tolerates both heat and drought. Myrtle -- or vinca -- does best when grown in zones 4 and above on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zone Map.

Things You'll Need

• Fertilizer
• Mulch
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Water the newly planted vinca to keep the soil moist at all times. After you notice new growth, gradually allow the soil to dry between irrigations. When mature, water only when the soil dries completely. Water the vinca at the soil, not on the foliage.

2. Spread a 2-inch layer of mulch around the base of the myrtle when planting. This helps discourage weeds and insulates the soil.

3. Feed the vinca a 10-10-10 fertilizer once a month from spring until August. Use the amount suggested on the fertilizer package, spread on the soil around the plant.

4. Prune the vinca in the spring before it produces new growth by cutting the entire plant back to one-third its size.

References

• Colorado State University: 2002:The Year Of The Vinca
• Ohio State University: Vinca Minor
• "Perennial Reference Guide"; Karleen Shafer and Nicole Lloyd; 2007