(AKA 'Ralph Shugart', Variegated Periwinkle/Myrtle)

This white-variegated selection of the evergreen trailing vine Vinca minor is as elegant as they come. Each glossy dark green, oval leaf is edged in white. The rich blue-purple flowers look regal above the elegant foliage, appearing from May through June and then reblooming sporadically until frost.

This is probably the most superior white-margined Vinca on the market. Others have the same lavender flowers as the species, but 'Ralph Shugert' retains the deeper blue flowers of its parent. It is an excellent groundcover for flower beds and spring bulbs, forms a dense weed-suppressing carpet.

Like most Vinca vines it will produce fewer blooms in deep shade, so if you can give it partial shade it will be happiest. Prefers shade in zones 7 - 8, must have shade in zone 9; tolerates full sun with regular watering in zones 4 - 6.

It will fill a space faster if grown in organic, moist, well-drained loamy soil, but it will also grow quite well in heavy clay as long as it gets adequate moisture. Spreads quickly once established.

Deer tend to avoid, tolerant of infrequent foot traffic. Caution: invasive, should only be used in contained areas. Mature prostrate height 4" - 6", spacing 8" - 12".

Vinca (from Latin vincire "to bind, fetter") is a genus of five species of in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The common name, shared with the related genus Catharanthus, is Periwinkle.

They are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have slender trailing stems 1-2 m long but not growing more than 20-70 cm above ground; the stems frequently take root where they touch the ground, enabling the plant to spread widely. The leaves are opposite, simple broad lanceolate to ovate, 1-9 cm long and 0.5-6 cm broad.

The flowers, produced through most of the year, are salverform (like those of Phlox), simple, 2.5-7 cm broad, with five petals joined together at the base to form a tube. The fruit consists of a group of divergent follicles; a dry fruit which is dehiscent along one rupture site in order to release seeds.

The two species (the Small Periwinkle V. minor and the Large Periwinkle V. major), are very popular ornamental plants in gardens, grown for dense evergreen ground cover and their delicate violet flowers. V. major has broader leaves with a hairy margin and larger flowers, is less cold hardy, and has twice as many chromosomes as V. minor. A variegated selection of V. major is commonly cultivated.