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Duranta erecta |
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| | May 2019, after an early-season haircut |
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| | Just after setting in the garden, May 2017 |
| Common name |
golden dewdrop, pigeonberry |
| Family |
verbenaceae |
| Life cycle |
shrub (Z9-11)   |
| Flowers |
blue |
| Size |
to 18' |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
| Cultural notes |
ordinary garden soil, not too dry |
Yet another not-quite-hardy plant carried by local nurseries for its delightful clusters of purple-blue flowers outlined in a crinkly white edge, duranta is a shrub or small tree in areas where it is unlikely to encounter frost – it is native to tropical areas in and surrounding the Caribbean. In zone 8 (which describes the coldest winters in the Houston area), it is killed to the ground by freezes into the 20s, but is likely to regrow from the roots if temperatures don't dip below the mid-teens and bloom by end of season. That is just what happened after January 2018's big freeze: the top was all dead, but new growth pushed out from the trunk just above soil level, where a layer of mulch had provided some cold protection. I did not notice any regrowth directly from the roots. The plant proceeded to grow fast and somewhat gangly, but pleased us with flowers again later that season. The following two winters were milder, and our duranta didn't suffer any setback at all. In spring, I cut the tallest leaders back quite a bit, and was rewarded with a much more pleasing bushy shape covered in flowers by May. An even stronger freeze hit in February '21, and this time it took two months before some growth emerged from the base of the main tree. However, I was pleasantly surprised to spot, several weeks before that, a few saplings or suckers growing nearby; they must have gotten their start the previous season, so apparently the youngsters are better able to survive a hard freeze than older specimens.
Our main specimen looks like it's the popular 'Sapphire Showers' cultivar, with white-picoteed purple flowers. One of the plants coming up nearby, which I assumed to be a sucker, started producing light blue flowers – so perhaps it was instead a seedling, reverted to the species. That specimen also produces abundant fruit (turning orange in late autumn), while 'Sapphire Flowers' sets fruit much more sparingly.
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| | Growth pushing out from bottom of trunk after top got killed in freeze |
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| | In the immediate aftermath of the '21 megafreeze |
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| | One of the saplings that survived the megafreeze |
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| | A sport or seedling that has reverted to the pale-blue flowers typical of the species |
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| | Fruit developing in mid-November... |
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| | ...and ripening in late December |
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In our garden, this plant grows in the following areas: back fence border, right-fence nursery area, houston front yard About my plant portraits
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Last modified:
December 24, 2024
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