Vinca Surprises

I love having a shady front yard. It makes sitting on the porch, or working outside so much more pleasant. I think it even helps keep the house cooler inside (of course that could be my imagination). As much as I enjoy all this, there is a big drawback. Planting options. Even grass doesn't grow in the more deep shaded areas, but to me that's a small price to pay for a cooler house.

About two years ago, Dave and I decided to plant a ground cover in one of the front planting beds. I've never been a fan of ground cover, but after many failed attempts to grow plants there, I embraced the idea. Not wanting to plant English Ivy (like everyone else all over town), I got online to shop for something else. Sadly, most of the ones I liked aren't available here, but I did find one that is. Vinca. It's something a little different, and readily available anywhere. We went over to Walmart, only to discover that Vinca is labeled an annual. Well, fine. I know when I've been defeated. I told Dave to go ahead and get the English Ivy, since we know it will grow to cover that grassless area, and we won't have to purchase it new every year. I did, however, pick up a couple of the vinca plants, just because I like them, and planted them in a pot with other annuals. It looked so pretty trailing over the side of my pot.

Fastforward to the next year. Fall and winter have passed, and the next spring has arrived. I'm in the middle of cleaning my annual pots out to make room for new ones, when, lo and behold, what do you think I saw? My vinca vine was reemerging from the soil. Apparantly Walmart had mislabeled this plant, because it has come back every year since I planted it. In fact, last year, I planted a different varietiy of vinca vines in two of my rosebush pots, and they have come back again this year. In fact, this year, I got an extra bonus...The vinca vines are blooming. I didn't even know this plant produced flowers, but there they are. Cute little purple flowers on several of my vines. One of the things I love about gardening is the many surprises it brings, and for me, this little vinca vine has been the source of many delightful ones.