Vinca

Overview: 

The annual vinca flower, also known as Catharanthus roseus, is a vibrant and resilient plant that thrives in warm climates. It features glossy green leaves and produces an array of colorful blooms, including shades of pink, red, white, and purple. This heat-hardy flower is drought-tolerant and can flourish in both garden beds and container gardens, making it a popular flower in the south. Annual vinca is also relatively low-maintenance, requiring minimal care beyond regular watering and occasional fertilization. These flowers come in many forms, read on to find out!

Seed starting:

Starting seeds for vinca can be tricky. I usually sow 1-2 seeds per cell and thin to one per cell after germination. We surface sow the seeds ( spring seeds on top of soil) followed by a light spring of vermiculite after sowing. Seeds need darkness to germinate, so keep them in a dark closet after sowing until they germinate.

Germination occurs typically 7-14 days. Keep air temperatures around 70-75 degrees for best results. Check out my seed starting guide for more tips and tricks for indoor seed starting. Start seeds indoors in February- march on our zone 9b. Honestly, I don’t start these much from seed. They are readily available at local nursery to purchase.

When to plant outdoors: 

Vincas likes it HOT. Plant after last frost, but better yet, plant after soil temperatures are at least 50 degrees. For us here in zone 9b Phoenix, we start planting them in April.

Spacing: 

6-9” apart

Height:

9-12”

Sun: 

Full sun 6-8+ hours

Flower Support:

Not needed.

Fertilizing:

feed plants with low dosages of all-purpose fertilizer best bloom all season.

Typical bloom time:

April - October

Succession plant?

No

Seed Sourcing:

swallowtail seeds and Geo seeds are my go-to’s.

Pairing plants:

Pentas, Angelonia, Rudbeckia, Zinnia, sweet potato vine

Favorite varieties:

Kawaii series:

This series offers a nice compact version of the traditional vinca. Smaller flowers, but come with so much more vigor.

Kawaii ‘red & ‘pepermint’

Kawaii ‘peppermint’ has striking white flowers with red eyes. Pairs well with red.

Kawaii red offers a bright topical red. Has a beautiful magenta undertone to it making it a great option for summer containers or boarder gardens.

Kawaii ‘ blueberry’ offers a great purple blue color to the landscape or containers. Kawaii ‘Fuchsia’ is tucked in the bottom left. This combo is stunning and perfect for a berry summer theme pallet.

Vinca Cora Cascade:

Vinca cascade does indeed ‘cascade’ and trail in your landscape. This makes it a perfect ‘spiller’ for container planting. I love adding these to all my containers, and mixing fun colors together.

Vinca Cora Cascade ‘cherry’ beautiful magenta red blooms, with red centers.

Vinca Cora Cascade ‘Lavender’ is a beautiful addition to any combo. We mixed it with a bright summer planting of sweet potato vines, gomphrena, and angelonia.

Mixed container with Cora Cascade ‘Peach’ & ‘Strawberry’ as our spillers. Vinca Kawaii ‘red’ is mixed in with Angelonia & Sweet potato vines.

Vinca Note:

Here in our zone 9b AZ garden, vincas can be tented perennials. They do not bloom in the winter, but they can be protected from frost and bloom the following year. Just give the plant a good cutback and it should be good to go!

Typically in containers we treat them as annuals, just because space is limited, and we want the containers to be full of blooms all season long.