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PlantHaven is pleased to help introduce Vinca minor 'Illumination' to the market. This stunning plant truly is something new. But where did it come from? We thought you might want to know more about its discovery -- and discoverer. After all, we're sure you've heard that familar phrase: "Behind every successful plant there's a successful breeder." 'Illumination' was discovered by Christy Hensler of The Rock Garden, a small retail nursery located near Newport, Washington. The nursery is located in the uppermost eastern corner of Washington state, in the Selkirk Mountains, a part of the Rocky Mountains.
"My focus is on hybridizing with the smaller retail side of it devoted to handling the 'garden overflow,'" Christy says. "Two of the larger areas of interest have been interspecific and interseries hybrids (primarily irises) and colored-leafed plants." Discovering 'Illumination' "I found 'Illumination' growing in a bed of common Vinca minor when I was taking divisions to pot for our 1995 spring bedding plant sales," Christy says. "When I first saw it, it was little more than an inch in height but beautifully brilliant and unlike anything I'd ever seen in a Vinca minor. Needless to say, all work stopped 'till it was safely removed from the mother and replanted to its own area. "Its first winter was harsh with temperatures down to minus 29 F and only about six inches of snow cover, but the following spring it was looking great and began putting on some nice new growth," Christy describes. "Subsequent plantings of it in shaded areas settled in nicely and once established took no notice of either poor soil or little watering. "Visitors to the nursery are used to seeing unusual things, but 'Illumination' seemed to get more than its share of interest," she says. "The first real indication that it might have wide appeal though was when I realized how difficult it was going to be for me to part with any of it! "Tony Avent at Plant Delights Nursery agreed to trial it, and after Geoff Needham of PlantHaven took a look at it, at Tony's, it quickly became evident that we had a winner on our hands."
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"My nursery is a bit unconventional as are some of my ideas about plant
evolution," Christy says. "My husband and I try to manage the garden itself holistically.
Chickens, sheep and honeybees both contribute and benefit from the garden.
Done well, there isn't much besides agreeable weather and hard work that's
needed to make the things flourish.