How to Fertilize a Blue Duranta

The blue blooming Duranta erecta shrub is a tropical type of ornamental plant which is known by many names, such as lilac-flowered golden dewdrop, pigeon berry, sky flower and just duranta. These shrubs thrive in sun or shade, blooming best in sun, and produce lilac-blue colored blooms from spring to late summer in less tropical regions or year-round in the tropics. The blue duranta benefits from annual fertilizing to encourage healthy growth and steady blooms which attract birds and butterflies.

Things You'll Need

• Garden rake
• Slow release fertilizer granules, compost or well-rotted manure
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Rake back any mulch from around the base of your duranta in spring once you notice new growth. Rake from the trunk area outward to drag the mulch as far back as the dripline, where the branches no longer reach.

2. Sprinkle slow releasing fertilizer granules over the surface of the exposed soil using a rate of 0.10 pounds of granules for every 100 square feet of space for mature durantas. Use 0.20 pounds per 100 square feet for plants under 5 years old which are still growing.

3. Skip using granules for a more organic application, if desired, by spreading 2 inches of compost or well-rotted manure over the exposed soil. Never spread fresh manure around your shrub.

4. Check to make sure none of the granules, compost or manure is touching the base of your shrub. Direct contact with the feed can cause scalding, causing more harm than good.

5. Push the old mulch back into place over the soil, covering the granules, compost or well-rotted manure or add fresh mulch and remove the old mulch. A solid covering of 3 inches of mulch is sufficient to decrease weeds and hold moisture in the soil.

6. Pull the mulch, whether old or new, back with your hand away from the base of the duranta in a ring about 6 to 10 inches out from the plant. Keeping mulch from touching the plant will keep moisture from building directly against the bark, which can cause disease.

Tips & Warnings

• Prune your duranta in late spring to summer to get rid of any branches which are damaged, rubbing or dead.

• In USDA growing zones 8 and below, the duranta is grown as a short, 6-foot tall annual, while in tropical areas it grows as a perennial reaching as high as 20 feet.

• Grow duranta as a screen in the garden, as a background behind shorter plants or in containers for small varieties to dress a deck or patio.

• The golden colored fruits produced after blooming are poisonous to humans and should not be eaten. For this reason, keep duranta plants away from children’s play areas.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension; Horticulture News; September/October 2008
• Plant Answers: Duranta
• “Arizona Gardener’s Guide”; Mary Irish; 2001
• University of Minnesota Extension; Tree Fertilization; Jeff Gillman, et al.