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Delavays Blueberry aka Vaccinium delavayi
While genus Vaccinium contains many commercial plants, Vaccinium delavayi is considered an ornamental.Whether we've heard the name or not, most of us are familiar with the genus Vaccinium. Its members include several current or potential commercial crops that delight the taste buds such as blueberry, cranberry, bilberry and huckleberry. Vaccinium delavayi, however, is strictly ornamental.The name vaccinium is an ancient one taken directly from the Latin vernacular: It was used to refer to Vaccinium myrtillus, the enchantingly named whortleberry. Vaccinium delavayi takes its specific name, like many Chinese plants, from the French Jesuit missionary Abbé Jean Marie Delavay (1838-95), Delavay discovered the plant and introduced it into cultivation. He was also responsible for such well-known plants as Abies delavayi, Magnolia delavayi and Osmanthus delavayi reaching the world's gardens. Vaccinium delavayi is native to Burma and southwest China. A hardy evergreen shrub, it has small, rounded leaves that are tough and leathery. In springtime, it produces clusters of small, bell-shaped to almost globular, white flowers that open from pink buds. The flowers are very much in the style of Pieris, Gaultheria, Andromeda and several other closely related genera in the erica family.
The flowers are pretty, buy the real appeal of this little "blueberry bush" lies in the deep bluish-black berries that follow. They are just like small blueberries and have a similar flavour. While the fruit is edible most consider the taste too acidic unless very ripe. It seems a shame to pick the berries, you may want to leave them for the birds to enjoy. Though not a spectacular plant, Vaccinium delavayi is attractive throughout the year and is always interesting, be it in flower, fruit or just as a neat foliage plant. It is an ideal specimen for a rockery or partially shaded corner. It grows to about 45cm high × 60cm wide and can be kept trimmed to a small mound. However, any pruning will adversely affect either the flowering or fruiting. As any blueberry grower will tell you, Vaccinium plants prefer acidic soil conditions. The small ornamental species are most at home when grown with other erica family plants such as dwarf rhododendrons, evergreen azaleas, ericas, callunas and pieris. The Gaultheria species, native to New Zealand, are interesting plants to combine with Vaccinium delavayi. Gaultheria crassa, in particular, looks very like its Chinese relative and provides a good illustration of how plants that evolve under similar conditions often resemble each other despite originating thousands of kilometers apart. Other small native berrying plants, especially those of the epacris family, also make good companions for Vaccinium delavayi. An alpine rockery with good berrying forms of Pentachondra pumila, Leucopogon fraseri, Cyathodes empetrifolia, Gaultheria crassa and Vaccinium delavayi would be full of interest and colour throughout the year. You won't find Vaccinium delavayi in every garden center, but it shouldn't require too much of a search to locate a specimen. Try looking in the perennials, as well as among the shrubs, as it's often sold at a very small size and tends to get lumped in with the rockery perennials. About the author: Geoff Bryant writes garden books and is a horticultural photographer based in Christchurch, New Zealand. His stock photo library is called Country, Farm and Garden at (www.cfgphoto.com).
News about Blueberries
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