Plant Library

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Group/Class:  Highbush Blueberry

Brand:  Proven Winners

Description:

An appealing ornamental shrub, featuring bright yellow-gold foliage in summer, that will take on rich hues of orange and red when cooler weather arrives; best color in full sun; will produce berries if paired with a compatible pollinator

Edible Qualities

Sky Dew™ Gold Ornamental Blueberry is a small shrub that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces clusters of blue round berries 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
• Freezing

Features & Attributes

Sky Dew™ Gold Ornamental Blueberry has attractive gold-variegated lime green foliage with hints of chartreuse which emerges brick red in spring on a plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn outstanding shades of orange and scarlet in the fall. It features dainty clusters of white bell-shaped flowers hanging below the branches in mid spring. It features an abundance of magnificent blue berries in mid summer. The smooth brick red bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

This is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. 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 plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Messy

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Sky Dew™ Gold Ornamental Blueberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sky Dew™ Gold Ornamental Blueberry will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. 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. This plant should be periodically fertilized throughout the active growing season with a specially-formulated acidic fertilizer. 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.

Sky Dew™ Gold Ornamental Blueberry is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use 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.