A Proven Winners? ColorChoice? Flowering Shrubs variety, Vaccinium Splendid!? Blue is a highbush blueberry cultivar valued not only for fruit production but also for ornamental purposes. Tidy and attractive, the deciduous shrub grows into a rounded mound, 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide, that maintains handsome dusky blue foliage throughout summer, which complements most plant colors in the garden, including red and orange. A mid-season variety, Splendid! Blue blooms in lovely small white flowers in late spring that attract pollinators, including bees and butterflies, followed by clusters of very sweet and flavorful blueberries that ripen midsummer, attracting birds.

The shrubs make great specimens but are shown to best effect when grouped or massed in mixed beds and borders or in a flowering, fruiting hedge.

Blueberry shrubs grow best in sunny locations with organically rich soils having an acidic pH between 4.8 to 5.2. The shrubs are low maintenance; but the shallow, fibrous roots need constant moisture and good drainage.

Blueberries are self-pollinating but planting two or more varieties with similar bloom times encourages cross-pollination, producing larger yields of larger berries. Planting early, mid-season, and late-fruiting varieties extends the blueberry season from early June to the end of the summer.