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Periwinkle by Helene N. Turkewicz-Sanko, Ph.D. Lasurko's Ukrainian Wedding Cake: Korovaj. Periwinkle (barvinok) is not an indigenous plant of the Americas, but it is a plant that adapted itself well to the American soil, just like the Euro pean immigrants who brought it. Today we can find this plant in parks, botanical gardens, private gar dens, and definitely around Ukrainian homes!1 Many Ukrainian immigrant women brought periwinkle along with the rest of the plants and herbs of their native villages. Many women came to this country to marry: they may have brought the periwinkle for the ritual wedding crowns of the marriage ceremo nies. This humble plant is, in fact, a natural compo nent of many rituals that punctuate the life of people of Ukrainian heritage. Most Ukrainian (and many Ukrainian- American) homeowners have a patch of periwinkle growing near the around the house or behind the tool shed. It is an evergreen that you can find even under a layer of snow in the middle of winter. It is a plant that offers unique features: all the leaves come by twos and the blue flower with its five petals seems to have captured the color of a perfectly blue sky. It is not surprising that poets praised this plant for symbolizing immortality and heaven (“periwin kle, periwinkle, only ankle high, periwinkle, peri winkle, twinkle of the sky”).2 For Taras Shevchen ko, the Ukrainian national poet, this plant, which spreads quickly and intensely, symbolized humility and strong determination. These characteristics are reinforced by the lyrics of some Ukrainian wedding songs, which mention that one needs to chop clip pings from the strong periwinkle with a sharp in strument such as an axe. While the literary, cultural, and botanical aspects of the periwinkle are interesting, this article deals with the periwinkle on a much more personal note. It is based on the personal experiences of the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants who, because of historical circumstances, found themselves in a sub urb of Paris, France. Though isolated from any Ukrainian community, I remember seeing periwin kle patches as I was growing up. I never thought much about this plant called periwinkle until one day I received an invitation to attend the Ukrainian wedding of my friend Maria. The year was 1956 and the wedding would take place in a small village in northern France near Amiens. My mother and I ar rived at the village the day before the wedding. As we entered the house, I was taken aback by what I saw and heard. Seated around a large kitchen table, women were making garlands of greenery. In front of them were heaps of cut peri winkles. One woman would clear the stems; another would tie the stems together into an endless string that was coiled on a towel on the floor. The songs the women were singing were about periwinkle. 16 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЛИСТОПАД 2004 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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