The Inscrutable Vinca
This is a plant that either grows gloriously with no attention or quickly dies no matter how much care is lavished upon it.
Known as annual vinca or Madagascar periwinkle, this species (Catharanthus roseus) has flummoxed the most experienced gardener with its unpredictable performances. Certainly it demands perfect soil drainage yet, for no apparent reason, it may die within days of being planted in sandy soil. The literature describes Madagascar periwinkle as a perennial typically grown as an annual, yet where all conditions for growth (whatever they may be) are perfect, it will become a stout two to three foot shrub that is covered with flowers most of the year for several years. Flower color has traditionally been white, rose pink, or mauve but in recent years red and apricot varieties have also appeared. Its botancial name Catharanthus means "pure flower" and there is a velvety sheen to periwinkle petals that does impart to the blooms, especially the white ones, an air of purity.
