Vaccinium darrowii 'Rosa's Blush'

Darrow's blueberry is the fine-leaved evergreen of the Southern blueberries, a low, glaucous native of the sandy pinelands from Georgia to Florida, named for George M. Darrow, the United States Department of Agriculture scientist whose work built much of the modern blueberry. Most plants carry the usual blue-green foliage, but 'Rosa's Blush' was chosen for something showier: new growth flushed with generous pink tints that light up the shrub, a character strongest in plants from Highlands County, Florida, and noted among several clones in the North Carolina State University breeding program.

'Rosa's Blush' is a selection made by the Woodlanders' friend Steve Riefler, a noted Florida plant hunter and breeder who has found and introduced a number of now-popular native species and selections. Steve named this one for the late Rosa Gonzales, a nursery colleague, and the plant has become a favorite in its own right for the warmth the pink new growth brings to an evergreen frame.

Through the year the small, shiny leaves hold blue-green and evergreen, blushing pink with each new flush and in cooler weather. Small, bell-shaped, white to pale-pink flowers open in spring for the bees, followed by small but genuinely good blueberries, sweet with a little tartness and welcome to birds as well as gardeners.

Grow 'Rosa's Blush' as an ornamental first, in a native plant garden, an edible landscape, or a mixed shrub border, where the pink-flushed evergreen foliage cools darker greens. Plant in sandy, acid, well-drained soil in a sunny or lightly shaded spot, and the shrub asks for little once settled. Photos courtesy of Mike Gercens III and NetPlant.