SA Garden Catalogue: Periwinkle

We are in the inter-monsoon period and the weather forecast says we will have rains/thunderstorms every so often. The humidity is very high and most plants are doing very well. As the rhyme goes, 'April showers bring May flowers' ... indeed also April flowers. Some roadside trees including the Tamalan are in bloom. The perennial Periwinkle are especially doing well now, flowering quite profusely.

Common name: Madagascar periwinkle/Periwinkle
Scientific name: Catharanthus roseus/Vinca rosea
Malay name: Kemunting Cina
Family: Periwinkle
Origin: Madagascar





Periwinkles love the full sun and they are quite hardy and will even grow (as weeds?) in cracks of outdoor floor tiles and walls. Propagation is by seeds, although if you already have the Periwinkles in your garden, seedlings may sprout anywhere and you can transfer them to the exact place you want them to be. Pruning will make shoots of this shrub grow and flower continuously. Many floral colours are available, especially of the new varieties which are small and compact. Just check out the garden centres and you will be spoilt for choice of the pretty colours to take home.

Cheerful Periwinkles in a container (CNB)

I only have the common purple variety now in my garden, the seedlings originally obtained from Port Dickson. I used to have one white, but it died on me. By the way, medicinally, the Periwinkle is a source of vincristine for the treatment of leukemia. In Pulau Langkawi it is said to be called Bunga jalang kampung because it is a weed growing wild. But pretty useful jalangs, as you will agree.

When there were white periwinkles ...