"Pink Lemonade": This Pink Blueberry Looks Pretty and Tastes Wonderful!

Have you ever seen a blueberry that is pink?

If you have, the pink blueberry that you saw might be "Pink Lemonade." It is a glossy, bright pink berry that has tastes sweet and delicious.

What is more, this blueberry, or maybe we should call it a "pinkberry," grows on a shrub that can thrive in many parts of the United States. The shrub looks nice. If people want to, they can plant it in their front yard or back yard or in a container that they put on their apartment porch or balcony.

An Agricultural Research Service scientist who works as a plant geneticist—someone who studies plant genes—developed "Pink Lemonade." He did that by choosing two special plants as parents, then studied their offspring. One of those offspring was "Pink Lemonade."

The scientist tested Pink Lemonade for many years before deciding that it was ready for plant nurseries to try. These nurseries grow hundreds or thousands of blueberry plants that they sell to other nurseries or to home gardeners or other kinds of customers.

"Pink Lemonade" is not the world's first pink blueberry. But it may soon become one of the best known. It is being sold in garden catalogs that you get in the mail, and on the internet. It has even been on TV.

Lots of people want to give "Pink Lemonade" a try. They will find that it looks very attractive in a fruit salad. And it tastes great!

By Marcia Wood, Agricultural Research Service, Information Staff

Main story

Sci4Kids