Periwinkle can't be beat.
Cover it with a plastic sheet.
Dig it, hoe it, give it a whack.
Periwinkle just comes back.
In flower garden, lawn, or field,
periwinkle will not yield.
Don't let its cute blue blooms deceive you.
Vinca vine will never leave you.
Before I knew how invasive the plant is, I planted periwinkle as a ground cover to help stabilize our very steep front hill, which we filled with flowering plants years ago so we didn't have to mow. Periwinkle's cheery blue flowers do not begin to make up for the choking vines that I'm trying to remove now. I grab handfuls and yank, thinking in rhyme as I work--a plus.
Now I have gaps to fill. To find a native ground cover, I searched the Native Plant Resource Directory at Homegrown National Park. I want a low-growing plant along the bottom of the hill, and the only one I found for our zone was wild strawberry. Birds eat the berries, which I count as another plus. Local garden centers I called didn't carry wild strawberry, so I found seeds at Prairie Moon Nursery and started the stratifying process as soon as I received them. I ordered plants from Prairie Nursery, but they won't be shipped until early June.
In the meantime, I'm yanking out periwinkle, planting more flowers and vegetables, and attending every protest I can, including yesterday's rally for Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. I find comfort in solidarity.
This week's Poetry Friday Roundup is at Pleasures from the Page. Enjoy!