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. Its glossy pointy leaves remain dark green in color throughout the year. It produces orange berries with yellow overtones from early fall to early winter.

Landscape Attributes

Sweet Memories Duranta is a multi-stemmed evergreen perennial with a rounded form and gracefully weeping foliage. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant 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. Although it is technically a woody plant, this plant can be expected to behave as a perennial in our climate if planted outdoors over the winter, usually regrowing from its base (crown) the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant 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 is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting 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 growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.