Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Northern Vinca


A tiny sliver of crescent moon might be seen by sharp eyes just above the horizon to the right of the locust tree.  The major event of recent weather was continuous cloud cover.  Just being able to see stars was a welcome sight with the moon just ahead of the rising sun a bonus.


A blue Vinca minor flower in bloom was included in a recent email from Texas.  Not to be completely outdone, a picture or two of our plants was taken.  Ours have no flowers yet but still display green leaves.


This is a true to life statement of affairs now present in upstate New York.  A dry stone wall backs our planting of this hardy plant.  Yet to find a method to control briers, the stone wall and the Vinca plants share this ground.  Bunny berries show the ever present presence of wildlife here.  The attraction of briers on rabbits was well documented by Walt Disney and appears accurate but not understood.

In the past when hiking the wilderness was possible but perhaps unwise, we occasionally stumbled onto a sizable patch of Vinca.  It is not a native plant to North America but its toughness explains why early settlers brought it with them.  Signs of human habitation in these reforested areas were not obvious save for the presence of Vinca and the tumbled down remains of a chimney.  When a scrap of this plant came our way it was hastily planted in an uncleared area.  Despite the competition from weeds and general lack of care, it has claimed a fair sized piece of ground.  Prompted by a communication from Texas, we went out in bright sunlight to capture a glimpse of one hardy plant.

1 comment:

Beth at PlantPostings said...

It is hardy and it can be invasive. It was here at my garden in S. WI when we moved in, and I haven't had the heart to pull it out. I guess it's not quite as invasive here as it is further south. Such pretty flowers in the spring...