How to Grow Vinca
Vinca At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Flower
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to 7°C
Plant Family
Apocynaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
The easy route is young plants from a garden centre. Wait until about 3 weeks after your last frost, when nights stay warm and the soil has heated up, then plant them about 25 cm apart. Plants set out in cold, wet soil sulk and struggle all season.
Annual vinca (also called Madagascar periwinkle) is a heat lover that keeps blooming through the hottest, driest summers when other flowers quit. It drops its old flowers on its own, so there is no deadheading. It is not the same plant as the hardy, trailing periwinkle used as a ground cover.
When To Start
Vinca needs warmth. Wait until your last frost has passed and the soil has warmed before sowing.
We do not have exact sowing dates for this one yet.
When should you plant Vinca?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Vinca Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Vinca Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Plant vinca out only once nights are warm
3 weeks after your last frost· every year
Enjoy your vinca, it drops old flowers on its own
60 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Water your new vinca plants well while they settle in. Deep and slow is best.
About 1 days after you plant it
How is your vinca settling in? Let the soil dry a little between waterings.
About 30 days after you plant it
Checking in on your vinca. It handles heat well and drops its old flowers on its own.
About 90 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Vinca's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
25 cm
Plant Spacing
30 cm
Row Spacing
Vertical Growing
No.
Succession Planting
No.
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Growing Tips
- 1Plant vinca in full sun, the hotter the better.
- 2Give it well-drained soil with a little compost, or a pot with drainage holes, since cold, wet soil rots its roots.
- 3Water only when the top few cm of soil is dry, at the base and not on the leaves.
- 4Feed with a little compost tea once a month in pots, and less in the ground, since too much food gives leaves instead of flowers.
- 5Pinch the tips of young plants once to make them bushier.
- 6Every part of the plant is toxic if eaten, so keep children and pets from chewing it.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
30 cm
Mature Height
30 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
When to Pick
Blooms all summer through heat and humidity; self-cleaning, no deadheading
How to Harvest
- 1Vinca needs very little care: its old flowers drop off on their own.
- 2Water only when the soil dries out, since it suffers far more from too much water than too little.
- 3If a plant gets leggy in midsummer, trim the stems back by a third to make it bushy again.
- 4Pull the plants out after the first fall frost and put them in the compost.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
Seed Production
Still have a question?
Ask your coach about your vinca.
This page covers what we thought to write down. Your vinca will do something it never mentions, and that is the day a coach beats a guide. Ask Coach Lumen one question right now, free, no account.
