Chronicaling the lunacy of taming three acres in Tidewater Virginia, one square foot at a time!

"Gardens... should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises and then still more curves. ~H.E. Bates, A Love of Flowers


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Blueberry Varieties

Got 4 varieties of blueberries planted today....an experiment as I have never grown them before!

I remember being at Girl Scout Camp in the summer in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey...we would pick blueberries and the cooks would make blueberry pancakes and muffins. They were the best and so an attempt to recreate my youth...haha

This is what I planted:

O'Neal
A southern highbush heat tolerant, self-pollinating variety with low winter chilling requirements (300 to 500 accumulated hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in the dormant season).
Botanical Name: Vaccinium corymbosum 'O'Neal'
Growing Zones: 5-9
Sun Exposure:Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist, well-drained
Soil Types/Tolerance: Normal, loamy
Plant
Width: 5 ft - 6 ft
Height: 6 ft
Foliage Color: Medium Green
Bloom Color: White
Berries: Very sweet, early ripening, medium sized


Jersey Variety
A northern highbush variety requiring requiring two varieties to pollinate and a minimum of 900 chilling hours (measure of accumulated hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in the dormant season.)
Botanical Name: Vaccinium corymbosum 'Jersey'
Growing Zones: 4-7
Sun Exposure:Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist, well-drained
Soil Types/Tolerance: Normal, loamy
Plant
Width: 5 ft - 6 ft
Height: 6-8 ft
Foliage Color: Medium Green
Bloom Color: White
Berries:sweet, late ripening, small-medium sized, good for baking

Sunshine Blue Variety
A northern lowbush variety requiring a minimum of 900 chilling hours (measure of accumulated hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in the dormant season.)
Botanical Name: Vaccinium angustifolium 'Sunshine Blue'
Growing Zones: 5-10
Sun Exposure:Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist, well-drained
Soil Types/Tolerance: Normal, loamy
Plant
Width: 3-4 ft
Height: 3-4 ft
Foliage Color: Medium Blue Green
Bloom Color: White
Berries:sweet, mid season ripening, small-medium sized,

Biloxi Variety
A southern highbush variety requiring two varieties to pollinate and with low winter chilling requirements (300 to 500 accumulated hours of temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit in the dormant season).
Botanical Name: Vaccinium corymbosum 'Biloxi'
Growing Zones: 5-9
Sun Exposure:Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist, well-drained
Soil Types/Tolerance: Normal, loamy
Plant
Width: 5 ft - 6 ft
Height: 6-8 ft
Foliage Color: Medium Green
Berries:sweet, early ripening, medium sized

I do have an awesome blueberry pie recipe...it would be cool to get enough to make the pie.

1 comment:

John said...

I'd love to hear how the blueberries are doing this year...