FAVOURITE

Viburnum 'Favourite' – a perennial fruit shrub up to 1.5 m tall with a compact, spreading crown and upright shoots that droop at the tips. Young branches are covered with smooth greenish-brown bark, which becomes rough and dark grey with age. The crown is dense, oval, and thick; leaves are lanceolate, bright green with a slight pubescence, large stipules, and smooth edges. The plant is deciduous: by autumn the crown turns brownish-green.

The variety is characterized by late fruiting – berries appear in August–September, and the first harvest is usually gathered from a four-year-old plant. Yield is high (up to 3 kg per bush), fruits are large (mass about 1.2 g, length ~2 cm) and have dark blue skin with a silver bloom, thin, dense, and smooth. The flesh is beige, juicy, with a balanced taste, sour-sweet, without bitterness with proper agrotechnics. Berries hold firmly on the pedicel, do not fall off, which ensures excellent transportability and long-term storage.

'Favourite' possesses high frost resistance (down to –35 °C) and resistance to spring frosts, as well as strong immunity to diseases and pests. The plant easily adapts to various climatic zones: northern, western, and eastern Siberia, the Far East region, etc. Thanks to its decorative form and durability, it is often used in horticulture and landscape design. For maximum yield, it is recommended to combine with pollinator varieties of the same flowering period (e.g., 'Provincial' or 'Sirius').