Plant Encyclopedia

Brand:  Bushel and Berry

Description:

This selection produces two crops of delicious blueberries, first in mid-summer, then will flower and set fruit again in fall; great for the landscape or patio containers

Edible Qualities

Perpetua® Blueberry is a medium-sized shrub that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces small clusters of navy blue round berries with silver overtones which are usually ready for picking from mid summer to mid fall. 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

Perpetua® Blueberry features dainty clusters of white bell-shaped flowers hanging below the branches from mid spring to late summer. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The glossy oval leaves turn an outstanding dark red in the fall. It features an abundance of magnificent navy blue berries with silver overtones from mid summer to mid fall.

This is a multi-stemmed deciduous 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, Perpetua® Blueberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

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

Planting & Growing

Perpetua® Blueberry will grow to be about 5 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, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years. While it is considered to be somewhat self-pollinating, it tends to set heavier quantities of fruit with a different variety of the same species growing nearby.

This shrub is typically grown in a designated area of the yard because of its mature size and spread. 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 particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Perpetua® Blueberry is a good choice for the edible garden, 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.