How to Plant Periwinkles

Periwinkles (Vinca minor) produce vines that provide a ground cover in both shaded and sunny locations. All varieties have glossy green foliage, some with cream or white leaf variegation. Periwinkles have five-petaled flowers that blossom in shades of blue, purple and white in late spring; the plant sometimes blooms again in the fall. Periwinkles are annuals and require yearly replanting one to two weeks before the last expected frost in spring.

Compost
Trowel
Mulch

Instructions

- 1
  Cover the planting site with a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost. Turn the compost into the top 8 inches of soil. Periwinkles grow and flower best in rich, well-drained soil, which compost helps provide.
- 2
  Dig planting holes with a trowel, making each hole as deep as the seedling pot. Space the holes 6 to 12 inches apart.
- 3
  Lift the periwinkle plants from the seedling pots. Set each plant in a hole and adjust the soil beneath the roots so that the periwinkle is planted at the same depth it was planted in its pot.
- 4
  Fill in the hole around the root with soil. Tamp the soil in place over the roots with your hand.
- 5
  Water the newly planted periwinkles thoroughly so the soil is moistened throughout the root zone. Fill in the hole around the root with soil. Tamp the soil in place over the roots with your hand. Spread a 1- to 2-inch layer of mulch around the plants to help keep the moisture in the soil and to prevent weed growth.

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