Greater Periwinkle

Vinca major, at first glance may be confused with Lesser Periwinkle, Vinca minor of course.
The Greater has significantly larger flowers and its leaves have stalks. The Lesser has smaller flowers and no stalks to its leaves.

It seems that the Lesser is a native plant as it was here growing in the wild before 1500. The Greater was introduced later mainly as a garden plant but it has escaped and become widely naturalised in England and Wales.

There are many bits of folklore linked to it. For example in the Cambridgeshire fens it was long believed that if a newly married couple planted a patch in their garden they would have a happy and contented life.