Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke' (Highbush Blueberry)

Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke' is a cultivar of highbush blueberry, a bushy, upright shrub known and widely regarded for its tasty edible fruits, which are also prized by birds and wildlife. The 'Duke' cultivar is noted for its late-flower/early-fruit growth habit, which means that although it produces flowers later in the season than other blueberry cultivars, protecting the blooms from late frosts, flower turns to fruit faster than in other cultivars, making for impressive, larger crops of berries.

Vaccinium corymbosum 'Duke' grows to 5-7' tall at maturity, producing white, bell-shaped flowers which are attractive to pollinators and butterflies in late May and which begin ripening into edible medium-to-large sized berries by as early as mid June. Blueberry bushes like 'Duke' make great additions to open yards as a source of free fruit, or as border and hedge plantings, where you can produce fruit en masse, and fall colors of yellow and orange add multi-season interest. If utilizing blueberry bushes for fruit production, care should be taken to cover plants while fruit develops to avoid bird damage.