Duranta erecta, a colourful tropical shrub

Gardening in southern Spain

Also called golden dewdrops, it is a perennial in temperate climates but is fast growing and can be treated as an annual in colder areas

Denise Bush

Duranta erecta is a colourful tropical shrub with blue, purple or white flowers from spring until autumn. It has yellow or orange berries during the winter.

It is a member of the Verbenaceae family and is native to Central and South America where it was once used as a traditional medicine to treat malaria and intestinal worms. It is however toxic to humans and animals and should not be ingested.

Duranta, also called golden dewdrops, is a perennial in temperate climates but is fast growing and can be treated as an annual in colder areas.

It is not fussy about soil and does not need feeding although a slow release fertiliser, once a month during the growing season, will keep it flourishing.

In optimum conditions it will develop into a large shrub.

The small, lightly scented flowers form in racemes and attract pollinating insects.

Duranta is also a premier butterfly magnet. In Mediterranean and subtropical gardens, it is a primary nectar source for large, showy species like the swallowtail and the monarch.

The flowers are followed by drooping clusters of golden or orange berries which birds love. For mammals, however, ingesting the berries or leaves can lead to nausea, skin irritation, or more severe neurological symptoms.

Some varieties have sharp thorns so gloves should be worn when cutting back.

The plant needs a situation with full sun for the best blooming and will grow in poor soils and coastal locations. It is moderately drought resistant once established but will need watering during the hottest months.

Planted in shade it may become straggly and produce fewer flowers. It can be grown as a specimen shrub in a pot or as a hedge and can be cut back quite hard in the winter.

If temperatures dip below -1°C, the plant will likely drop its leaves and “play dead”. However it is incredibly resilient.

Even if the top growth is nipped by a rare frost, it usually regrows vigorously from the roots once the spring sun warms the soil.

Propagation is best from cuttings taken in summer as Duranta is often hybridised and therefore the seed may not be true to the parent plant.

The name Duranta is a tribute to Castore Durante, a famous 16th-century Italian botanist and physician. He was a bit of a celebrity in the Renaissance medical world, serving as the personal doctor to Pope Sixtus V.

The species name erecta simply refers to its upright growth habit, though its heavy flower racemes eventually give it a charming, weeping silhouette.

Because of its rapid growth, Duranta erecta is a perfect choice for “new build” gardens, where owners want to establish privacy (in the form of a hedge) in just one or two growing seasons.