Other Names:  Sky Flower, Golden Dew Drop, Pigeon Berry

Description:

A vining shrub producing shiny, small dark green foliage; pretty purple flowers with white edges in summer, are followed by orange-yellow berries; may be espaliered or grown as a small tree or large shrub; thornless; a great garden or landscape accent

Ornamental Features

Sweet Memories Duranta features showy clusters of purple flowers with violet overtones, buttery yellow eyes and white edges at the ends of the branches from mid summer to mid fall. It has dark green evergreen foliage. The glossy pointy leaves remain dark green throughout the winter. It produces orange berries with yellow overtones from early fall to early winter.

Landscape Attributes

Sweet Memories Duranta is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a rounded form and gracefully weeping branches. 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 shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sweet Memories Duranta is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sweet Memories Duranta will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant does not require much in the way of fertilizing once established. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selection of a native North American species, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.

Sweet Memories Duranta makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. 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.