Description

Tough groundcover for shade; beautiful violet flowers. Vinca minor is a trailing subshrub, spreading along the ground and rooting along the stems to form large clonal colonies and occasionally scrambling up to 40 centimetres (16 in) high but never twining or climbing. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 2–4.5 cm (3⁄4–1+3⁄4 in) long and 1–2.5 cm (1⁄2–1 in) broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire margin.

The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and are produced mainly from early spring to mid summer, but with a few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections), 2–3 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄4 in) diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2.5 cm (1 in) long, containing numerous seeds.