Dwarf periwinkle

It may be small, its flowers may be pretty, but it INVADES.

By tess.

We’re just feeble vines, we wouldn’t

hurt a fly!

We’re only cutsie little flowers, pay no attention to us.

These plants are lying. Dwarf periwinkle may seem innocent and harmless but it is really an invasive species. What may look like a thin patch of flowers is actually a grotesque plant-killer.

What is seen here is the thick layer of dwarf periwinkle that will cover large areas of space including multiple plant victims.

Dwarf periwinkle chokes its victims by covering the ground around it and licking the bottom of the poor plants. Here is an example of how this murder looks. Notice that the periwinkle is so thick that it doesn’t even need to try to kill the surrounding plants.

When periwinkle chokes its victims it has nothing to do with CO2; dwarf periwinkle covers a plants roots which allows significantly less water to be absorbed by the plant. Even more important is that plant is deprived of nutrients when the periwinkle starts taking so many nutrients from the soil that there isn’t enough left for the helpless plant victim.

This tiny bit of dwarf periwinkle is too small to do anything now, but within months it will spread into a colossal catastrophe. It is best to try to notice this horrid weed immediately, because once dwarf periwinkle spreads, there will be trash bag after trash bag of the stuff.

Dwarf periwinkle is an invasive species which means it is not native. Here is a map of southern and central Europe. This is where dwarf periwinkle originates. Dwarf periwinkle is also native to southwest Asia in Turkey.

Dwarf periwinkle, like so many other plants, uses several different colors to attract bees and other pollinators.

This is white dwarf periwinkle. Notice it looks precisely like other periwinkle except for the color.

This is violet dwarf periwinkle, this again is fairly normal.

This is lavender colored dwarf periwinkle, this is far more common than white and violet dwarf periwinkle combined.

Regardless of color, dwarf periwinkle is the same invasive plant. Don’t let it fool you.

Vinca Minor is the scientific word for dwarf periwinkle. Periwinkle is used to mean Vinca, which is the genus. The genus is a group of species that are very similar. Minor can be simplified to dwarf, both portraying the small size of the plant.

Vinca minor is commonly known as dwarf periwinkle, small periwinkle, and other similar names. It is also known as myrtle or creeping myrtle.

This is large periwinkle or Vinca major. It is essentially the same as dwarf periwinkle except, as you can probably tell, Vinca major is about twice as big.

This has been brought to you by Tesia.

Special thanks to my sources,

my brain, Wikipedia, and

my brain.