Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Darrow's Blueberry

Description:

This exciting, compact dwarf variety features small, elliptic blue-green leaves and bell shaped pink to white flowers in mid spring; abundant crop of sweet blueberries in mid-summer; great for the garden or patio containers

Edible Qualities

Native Blue Blueberry is a small shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces clusters of navy blue round berries with black overtones which are usually ready for picking in mid summer. The berries have a sweet taste and a juicy texture.

The berries are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Cooking
• Baking
• Preserves

Features & Attributes

Native Blue Blueberry features dainty clusters of shell pink bell-shaped flowers with white overtones hanging below the branches from early to mid spring. It has bluish-green foliage with hints of red which emerges pink in spring. The glossy oval leaves turn an outstanding plum purple in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent navy blue berries with black overtones from late spring to mid summer.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Native Blue Blueberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Native Blue Blueberry will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years. This variety requires a different selection of the same species growing nearby in order to set fruit.

This shrub is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have sandy, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species.

Native Blue Blueberry is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.