Blueberry plants for landscaping Rosa's Blush Charlotte NC 8a

I’m the HOA president and looking to reduce lawn care expenses and make neighborhood more fun. I saw this youtube video about Rosa’s Blush blueberry bush being used as a landscaping plant. But I can’t seem to find any local nursery that sells it. We have a 10x120’ long strip of grass I want to replace with low maintenance bushes and thought about 40 of these would be fun to plant there. our native clay is no good so will have to acifify the soil with pine bark and maybe some sand. and holly tone. thanks in advance. charlotte nc zone 8a full sun and we have irrigation. It’s in a “parking strip” right of way location so the plants can’t be very tall 2-3 feet max is another limitation.

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Try: wilson bros gardens in McDonough GA for potted plants of this cultivar of blueberry.

I have no personal experience using this cultivar. But, theoretically it might get the job done.

Charlotte area soils are acidic, some under 5 pH, so a soil test, but it might be acidic enough already.
This cultivar of blueberry must have a second variety for pollination, and apparently the
rabbiteye blueberries can do that, but you’ll need to have some in somebody’s hedge or garden nearby if you expect fruit I believe.

Good luck!

ps, Give PIKE’s a call in Pineville or Mint Hill.

That’s a pretty plant and one I haven’t heard of.
There was Cure Nursery,probably in NC,whose owners recently retired,but sold it to Rachel’s Native Plants,in Pittsboro,NC.
Rosa’s Blush is on their website,but uncertain if available.

Also,for mail order,there are some in Louisiana at Almost Eden.

I found another dwarf landscape plant called Cutie pie , Pikes Nursery in Charlotte NC sells it for $30 I might try that first since I prefer buying local vs mail order. the plants are cheaper and healther typically.
turns out there have been several dwarf ornamental blueberries,
Summer Sunset™’: A new ornamental blueberry
Summer Sunset Blueberry Plant -Pink/Blue/Yellow/Purple/Orange/Red Berr (bulbsnblooms.com)

even found a blueberry ground cover that only gets 4

" tall wierd.
Baby Blue Groundcover Blueberry Plant - 4" Pot - Edible Grouncover - V (bulbsnblooms.com)

two more dwarfs: Top Hat Blueberry Bush (bulbsnblooms.com)
Vaccinium Sunshine Blue Dwarf Blueberry | Jackson & Perkins (jacksonandperkins.com)

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Sunshine Blue gets about 36 to 40 inches.
Glad you found Pikes…they might be able to special order large quantites of something for you in spring? Even of varieties they don’t typically carry.

Ummm… virtually ANY blueberry is going to have those same ‘ornamental’ properties… pink spring flush, blossoms, green foliage in summer, tasty berries, red fall leaf color. But… rabbiteyes can, with age, attain heights of 10 ft or more.
There are probably other low-growing/‘dwarf’ blueberry cultivars that will work nicely. I wouldn’t necessarily limit myself to having to have ‘Rosa’s Blush’ or nothing at all.
Blueberries are a great ‘ornamental’ choice!

Don’t be so sure that your clay soil is ‘no good’… but amendments like pine bark fines and mulching will certainly help with moisture retention, if needed. As BlueBerry says, I’ll bet your soil pH is already acidic… unless y’all have been applying lime…

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these will be planted in a city right of way parking strip. maximum height is 30" per city code.

Understood. Still, I’ll bet there are other blueberry varieties that will fit in that size category - and improve fruit-set on RB or other small-stature blueberries that you might plant.

City/HOA codes… just one more reason for me to stay the heck out of towns and away from crowds. lol.

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I’ve planted northern highbush in Mint Hill, Stallings, etc…(Charlotte 'burbs)…they end up dying. The v. asheii
ones can take the heat, but they’re all over 30 inches so far as I am up on it.

Since Rosa’s Blush originates in the South, I figure it probably fits his objective, though I’ve not tried the cultivar myself.
It needs a pollinator I understand.

thanks that helps a lot. I bought 6 N.Highbush on clearance to try out, (differnet location) I guess I’ll be returning them for rabbitEye

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No, I think if you can give them partial shade in mid-day, and give 'em good care, the highbush can succeed. But, odds shrink for the average person planting them.
I am sure I could grow any of them if I set my mind to it…but planting and forgetting as many folk are prone to do…then the rabbiteye are the best bet. And southern highbush can be good also.

You have me curious, maybe i’ll buy a Rosa’s Blush if I see one!

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Biggest issue for me (on the z6b/7a interface) is that berry production of rabbiteyes is 10X or more what I got with Northern highbush types… but my rabbiteyes are 4-5X the size of any NHB I ever grew. But… I have no size constraints!

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wow 10x more is a LOT more. that alone is reason to switch from NHB to Rabbiteyes

Lucky, a couple times I’ve picked 10 pints or more from a NHB plant in a raised bed. It probably 3 years old as a transplant. Been in ground 7 years.
I’ll sure be tickled if I get 100 pints from any of my Rabbiteyes!

Not a good blueberry year at all. But, I’ll say the small Rabbiteye plants did give me a handfull or so…and many of the NHB died or gave me nothing this year. I have a couple old NHB that never fail to produce a handfull of big berries…can’t remember the variety or varieties.