Vinca minor (lesser periwinkle, "Himetsurunichinichiso")

Japanese name: ヒメツルニチニチソウ （姫蔓日日草）
Scientific name: Vinca minor

[Overview]
An evergreen perennial or subshrub.
Many stems arise from the base of the plant; flowering stems stand upright, while non-flowering stems creep and spread along the ground.
The leaves are simple and opposite, elliptical, 2–4.5 cm long and 1–2.5 cm wide, with a glossy surface.
It resembles Tsuru-nichinichiso, but the leaf margins have no hairs.
The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils, purple, 2–3 cm across.
The corolla is tubular, and the tip is 5-lobed and twisted in one direction.
The fruit is a cylindrical follicle.

[Uses]
The whole plant is poisonous, but it is used medicinally.

[Cultivation]
Propagate by division or by shoot cuttings.
In cold regions the leaves are damaged, so protecting the plant from the cold, for example with frost protection, lets you enjoy the leaf color for a long time.
It grows well from sun to shade and prefers fertile, well-drained, well-aerated soil.
It flowers better in the sun, but variegated cultivars scorch easily in strong direct summer sun, so partial shade is better for them.
Take care not to let the soil become too wet; for potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil dries, and for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient once the roots are well established.
Fertilizer is not particularly necessary if a base fertilizer is applied.
If a variegated cultivar produces a branch with only plain green leaves, it is a reversion to the original species, so cut off the whole branch.
There are no particular pests or diseases.

View this page in Japanese (日本語)