These are really big pots. But prefer plants that stay moderately compact, not long and gangly, as they front a buisness. I’ve used sunshineblue before and it was great due to size and keeping the foliage year round. soso berries. Was looking for some varieties with good eating berries. Ease and volume of fruit would be top priority (after aesthetically manageable bush). Any ideas?
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Sweetcrisp and Springhigh is fruitnuts favorites for high brix.
[Some blueberry variety talk mainly Sweetcrisp and Springhigh my favorites]
I have the Tifblue and Brightwell rabbiteye varieties in pots. They are alright but I am not very picky as to taste. I just want a lot of blueberries!
Bountiful Blue does that.Sort of like Sunshine Blue’s fat cousin.bb
Oh yeah,there are a few fairly new ones out from Fall Creek Nursery,called Brazzleberries,Jelly Bean and Peach Sorbet.
Also,Top Hat is another dwarf.bb
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I’m sure heat, sunshine, soil composition…many things affect taste in blueberries. The Northern Highbush x Lowbush hybrids are as compact or more so than Sunshine Blue. But, in zone 8, I don’t know? how they’d do. Maybe someone else does.
Star, Emerald, Biloxi, etc are varieties that work in zone 9 and even 10 in the USA. But, compared to later crops grown in zone 5 Michigan or Ontario…not as tasty.
Speaking of tastings…I’ve rowed up half a dozen varieties or more on more than one occasion and had people tasting them and ranking the results…
after you’ve tried 5 or more, they begin to taste so much alike, it’s difficult to decide.
But, you mentioned Sunshine Blue. In a taste-off, it’s never first nor last but somewhere in the middle. And after 30 days in the refrigerator (not the freezer), it may well move up the scale when compared to other berries.
Of the varieties I’ve grown Sunshine and Bountiful blue look best in pots but I thought their flavor was good, not great. I love Jewel and O’neal best for flavor and pink lemonade is just fun and sweet. Trying southmoon and emerald this year. Misty and Sharp are somewhere in the middle for me. All have done great in pots half peat moss and half potting soil
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Which ones are those huge berries the size of a quarter found commonly at the u-pick places?
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They could be Chandler,which may be the biggest.bb
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My biggest one I’ve lost the tag…I know that doesn’t help. 
Herbert Is big. Not sure if I have Chandler. Patriot is big. EarliBlue is big. Blueray is big.
Thanks a lot guys. I went to several garden centers to see what was available, and looks like maybe the best option is to buy a couple of sunshine blues (btw, this is the same as Sunshine?) as ornamentals and a pink “Florida rose” (assuming it the same as pink lemonade) just to try it out. The sunshine blues are tiny so it’ll probably take years to get to the beautiful grand bush I had before. What’s a Good cross pollinator for sunshine blue? Was thinking of also getting an O’Neill, I believe I had one before and it was the earliest fruiting blueberry I had (May?). earlier is better.
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Sunshine Blue has bluish-green foliage, and pink blooms. Berries are medium size, and pretty mild, but definitely good when fully ripe.
Thanks, yes, I had one before, that’s why I wanted to get another one. I just wanted to confirm that people are talking about the same plant when they say only “sunshine”, minus the “blue”. By the way, I saw two varieties today one is Southern O’Neill and the other is O’Neill . Not sure the difference.
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If at different outlets, probably the same thing.
(
I looked the name up and a number of sources said Rabbiteye,so that’s not the same as Pink Lemonade and the plant will probably get big.bb
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The Florida Rose available here looks to be larger and in better condition and cheaper than the pink lemonade.
As a side there’s interesting plant called blueberry muffin has clusters of blueberries
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So long as your remember these are “ornamentals” more than they are for fruit production, everyone will be happy.
Yes indeed haha.
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Ithink I’ll buy 2 more sunshine’s. I couldn’t find bountiful blue anywhere available here at the garden centers, and they have a lot of different varieties. I think I’ll also get a Florida rose, as apparently it has larger berries and ripens earlier. I’ll just take my chances on the looks.
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Any idea if you could zone push Florida Rose to Zone 6b? It supposedly pollinates pink lemonade the best.
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No idea…I’ve not seen it and don’t know who sells it. But, if other rabbiteye blueberry plants
are hardy (survive the winter) for you, then that one probably would too.
I understand it is ‘low chill’ which might cause blooms to open too early and some years
a dip into the teens after blooming and you’d have damage to crop and maybe the plant.
So, not one to try commercially in 6b, but if you want one for the yard, I’d go for it.
(Then tell us about it).
I’m trying one plant this year of ‘Onslow’…a low chill one bred for coastal area of eastern N.Carolina…it’s not reputed to be necessarily pretty looking like the “Florida Rose”.
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