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Bailey's dewberry

Rubus baileyanus · Rosaceae

Bailey's dewberry (Rubus baileyanus)
Photo: Internet Archive Book Images · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Bailey's dewberry (Rubus baileyanus) is a perennial shrub in the Rosaceae family. It is native to North America. USDA records it as hardy in zone 4 and warmer, down to about -28°F.

At a glance

Typeshrub USDA
Lifecycleperennial USDA
Native statusnative USDA
Mature height5 ft USDA
Lightpart-shade USDA
Water needhigh USDA
Growth ratemoderate USDA
Soil pH5–7 USDA
BloomApril–May USDA
Flower colorWhite USDA
Hardiness zones4 and warmer USDA
Guild layershrub Derived
Nursery availabilityNo Known Source USDA

USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.

Growing conditions

It grows in partial shade. USDA rates it as having needs consistently moist ground. Its drought tolerance is rated medium. It is recorded on soils from pH 5 to 7 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 4.

Size and growth

At maturity it reaches about 5 ft, making it roughly waist to chest height. It grows at a moderate rate.

Bloom period

USDA records a bloom period of April through May. Flowers are white.

A flowering date, not a pollinator rating.

Foliage, flower and season

Summer foliage is green, medium in texture. Its flowers are conspicuous. Its fruit or seed heads are conspicuous, extending interest past flowering. Its active growth period is spring and summer. USDA rates its lifespan as moderate.

What the site needs to provide

USDA records it across sites receiving 32 to 50 inches of annual precipitation. It needs at least 130 frost-free days to finish its season. It roots to at least 8 inches. Fertility requirement: medium.

Propagating it

It takes readily from seed, cuttings, bare root, container stock and sprigs. Seed needs cold stratification — a period of moist chilling — before it will germinate, so sow in autumn or chill it artificially before a spring sowing. Its seed spreads at a slow rate. It spreads vegetatively at a moderate rate.

Resilience and wildlife

Browsing animals find it moderately palatable, so expect deer and rabbits to take an interest. Its fire tolerance is rated high, and it can resprout after damage. Its growth form is recorded as thicket forming.

Role in a guild

Shrub layer. In a layered planting this is woody mid-level structure between the understory and the ground. The layer is derived by a fixed rule from growth habit and mature height.

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Tags

deciduousdrought-tolerantclay-tolerantsandy-soilspreadingnativeedible

Related plants

Others in Rubus

Similar role and hardiness

Where this data comes from

Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol RUBA2, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.

Read our full data sources and methodology.

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