Yes, my southerns look so bad, time to replace them.
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yeah. im giving up pushing my zone limits. a lot of work and money to just have them die off anyway. only ones im putting a effort into keeping are my PAF blackberries and its not a real big effort. they are so vigorous its just a matter of extending the seaon to get them to ripen.
my SHB are doing great, Only Sweetcrisp had about 20% winter die back
Pink lemonade and Jewel
Spring High
Jewel x2
Blue Crop and Partriot
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Yeah they look awesome! Just being able to put them in the ground, that would be great here. No blueberry will survive in this basic soil here. I being in 5b/6a is just a little bit too cold for SHB. They survive, but donât thrive. Now I could go to great lengths to protect them, but I have no desire to at this point. Considering I can plant others that will work well. That Maine wild blueberry flavor sounds good to me, and those will grow here, and the MSU developed Northland also produces a somewhat wild taste. that would round off my options here. You have Pink Lemonade, and I have Pink Popcorn, so it all works out. Youâre in a great spot and could grow about any blueberry, thatâs cool! Rabbiteye donât work here either and Pink Lemonade has too much of that in it to work well here. Pink Popcorn is all NHB developed in MN and very very hardy. The berries are almost white with a tinge of pink. Not near as dark as PL.
Well I am the hard stuff too, like figs in containers are easy I only have to water about once a month in the winter. So it could not be easier.
Iâm going to move my SHB from hard containers to root pouches and leave them out all winter, they either make it or donât. Iâm not going to fuss over them anymore.
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Drew,
If you decide to grow the wild Maine/ Nova Scotia bloobs, then I would highly recommend you start with Brunswick, available from Raintree. Iâve trialed a bunch, and itâs the best one for vigor, flavor, and productivity.
If I had to pick another, then I would go with the clumps of wild bushes sold by Fedco. They sell a good productâ the roots are always substantial. These wild clumps are truly LOW lowbushes, so some weeding comes into play.
The other variety sold by Raintree, Burgundy, has been a productionless runt for me going on 3 years straight.
Brunswick took a while to get its act together, but is coming into its own now.
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I remember you mentioned Brunswick, I will get that one. I was thinking a 4x4 bed for it to spread a little anyway. Only part lowbush, I want to get Northland too. Developed at MSU by Stanley Johnson, best known for developing Red Haven.
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burnt ridge has them @ $4 each. but shippings steep.
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we have them wild all over around here. if you wanted to try the true wild maine bloobs, i could dig some for you. they grow on hummocks so theyâre easy to dig.
Yeah that would be cool! I want to build a raised bed though. So not this year. I will remind you next year.
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Here is my raised bed with three lowbushes. The two on the left are very small in stature (Burgundy and the wild Fedco patch).
Brunswick on the right is heads above the rest.
All 3 are slowly spreading outwardsâ cloning themselves and filling out the bed. Weeds are a struggle in summer.
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Yesterday, my five-year old son squeeled in excitement: âLook Dad, the bumblebee came to make your blueberries!â So, I snapped a photo. (Iâve been trying to teach him about plant pollination. Sounds like he gets it!)
Bee on my Northcountry blueberry bush:
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Tasted pink popcorn for the first time this year. Itâs a solidly good blueberry. And while the birds are eating all my other blueberries, raspberries, and currants, these ones seem to fly under the radar. ⌠although they probably couldâve been a bit riper.
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Funny I just posted about them in Whatâs Happening. yes, tried them today, very early for here, so cool, extended the season! I also tasted Ka-Bluey today for the first time. Both are keepers for me. Oh also tasted Spartan today too, another keeper. My 6 other plants are later ripening.
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I just looked at your post. Yeah, hard to tell if these were exactly ripe. They came off the bush easily and had good sweetness, but Iâm going to leave the rest of the berries for a while longer to see what happens.
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I find Chandler and Jersey rather hit and miss here in zone 4a. North Country, Northland, Northsky, St. Cloud seem to be the most reliable here near St. Paul, MN. My Kablueys hardly ever get a single berry. Production was very spotty this year on all varieties. I now plant mostly zone 3 bushes.
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You have a lot of good ones though for your zone. You could try Pink Popcorn, it would fit in, developed in your state. I gave up on the Southern Highbush, trying to push my zone. It didnât work, they just want to bloom too early. Chandler does OK here Ka-bluey too, which is a nice berry.
I really like for my zone 5a/6b Toro soft but very sweet, Chandler big berries, productive if aggressively pruned. Liberty is a work horse as is Legacy. Pink Popcorn is cool, Caraâs Choice is gourmet berries with rich complex flavors. Spartan is early and very sweet large berries, love it! I have no plans to add more, although many I would like to try, just my alloted space for blueberries is full! Happy with the ones I have too.
i have the 1st 3 in your list all produce great here when the snow doesnât break branches off like last winter. alot of new growth but wonât be much for berries this year.
anyone growing razz? put one in this spring and its growing well. just wondering how well it produces.
