Duranta and a variety of salvia named Henry Duelberg have been awarded Texas Superstar designations by Texas Cooperative Extension.

Duranta is a plant with a long history and many names but one consistent quality: it meets all six of the characteristics required to receive Texas Superstar designation.

Researchers Dr. Cynthia McKenney and Dr. Wayne Mackay, both horticulturists with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in Dallas, said those characteristics include being attractive and useful to a broad spectrum of gardeners.

They said the plant also offers ornamental characteristics not usually available in commonly sold plants. Duranta performs consistently well for Texas consumers regardless of their gardening expertise. It is as pest resistant as possible. It has been propagated and mass produced for consumers. And last but not least, both said duranta is attractive enough to sell itself without the consumer knowing anything else about it.

Duranta puts out a sky blue flower or a royal blue flower on weeping or drooping type branches throughout the summer and is followed by yellow berries in the fall.

A variegated cultivar named Duranta Golden Edge is grown just for its foliage. Duranta blooms from late summer into autumn. It rapidly grows to two to three feet in height.

"Duranta is a tropical annual with beautiful blue flowers and is a perennial in the subtropical portions of Texas," said Mackay. "The plants perform very well in containers and make great patio plants for sun and shade. Although the variegated form does not flower, it is especially useful in the shade to provide color."
"Duranta attracts birds, butterflies and hummingbirds," said McKenney.

"One of the nicest parts about Duranta is that it can take sun or shade and does very well in our heavy clay soils."

Up to 30 species of tropical trees and shrubs make up the genus Duranta L. The duranta designated as a Texas Superstar is scientifically known as Duranta erecta, but is more commonly called Lilac-Flowered Golden Dewdrop, Brazilian Sky Flower, Pigeon Berry or simply Duranta. This year's other new Texas Superstar is the Henry Duelberg salvia. It was named from the grave marker in a rural Central Texas cemetery where it was found growing.
 

The Henry Duelberg salvia has dark blue flowers. Another variety named Augusta Duelberg, after Henry's wife, has white flowers. Both varieties are heat and drought tolerant, grow 2 to 3 feet tall, thrive on full sun and provide good color throughout their blooming season, which is May through the first frost, said McKenney.

"The Henry Duelberg salvia is a really nice ‘discovered' salvia," said McKenney. "It's a good plant for the whole state. I expect that we're going to see the Henry Duelberg Salvia promotion do well as salvias as a whole do well in Texas."

"Henry Duelberg salvia is more vigorous than other salvias and it performs best when sheared occasionally to renew the flowers and keep the plant tidy," said Mackay.

With the announcement of these two newest Texas Superstars, the number of plants that have received the designation now tops three dozen.

"These are not all native Texas plants," McKenney said. "Some are old favorites and some are new to the industry. One thing they all have in common is that they are all high-performing plant materials that are environmentally tolerant."

McKenney said plants that receive the Texas Superstar designation are tested for at least three years to make sure they will perform effectively throughout most if not all of the state. Categories of Texas Superstars include ornamental, annual and perennial plants as well as some trees, shrubs, fruits and vegetables.

"The Texas Superstars are plants that the Texas Agriculture Program has searched and trialed to find easy care, attractive ornamentals with minimal care," McKenney said. "These plants fit into the EarthKind landscape management program that is headed by Texas Cooperative Extension. It is a management practice to maximize the health and growth of plants with the least amount of energy or chemical inputs, so it is an environmentally friendly program. In the future we will probably look at container and color bowl combinations as well as possibly interior foliage plants."

Writer: Janet Gregg