I have never grown most of the varieties on your list but I have grown a few of them. SHB like O’neil are very hard to grow unless you are in the right area. It is the most popular commercial blueberry in NC because it is productive and very early. They respond to sandy soil with low PH a high water table and very high organic matter, similar to what is found in the coastal plane of NC in Baden or Pender counties.
Brightwell is very productive but prone split, so it not common is my area. Cape Fear(SHB) is terrible and even the plant breeder does not recommend it!
Legacy is good in my area and is easier to grow. Most of the Rabbiteye you have chosen are more recent introductions from Georgia and have not done well in my area. Yadkin was developed in NC but it not often recommend but I’m not sure why. Columbus is a newer variety from NC that has dome well and produces large fruit.
I have no experience with NHB, but the model for a perfect environment is the pine barrens of New Jersey which are similar to some of the coastal plain of NC except for the temperature.
Blueberry connoisseurs claim that highbush blueberries have smaller seeds and more tender skin than rabbitlye. I believe both are true, but the difference is not huge.
Thanks for good information! A farmer’s market grower friend of mine told me to get Cape Fear but I’m taking it off the list after reading more about it and your helpful tip. I don’t have the right soil for O’Neal so that explains that. Wonder why the newer rabbiteyes don’t do well in your 7B? Edible Landscaping in Afton, Va is big on Vernon, Yadkin. I think he also sells Columbus.
Where do you find reliable info about say the rabbiteyes?
I just left a blueberry growing seminar which was conducted by the NC Blueberry specialist so some of the variety info was fresh in my head.
I got the impression that he was surprised when he learned from the audience that some of the newer varieties on his list like IRA and Onslow that were developed in NC have not done well in my part of NC.
Info on the newer introductions from Georgia and NC is available on line, but most of them have not been tested in many areas. You may need to run your own tests to see what does well in your area.
Years ago, I ate some wild highbush blueberries growing along the side of a road north of Emporia VA that were arguably the best flavored and sweetest I’ve had. With that as a comparison, the rabbiteye types we grow here in North Alabama are significantly less flavorful and less sweet. I have several of the older rabbiteye types like Tifblue, Woodard, etc.
I just planted Vernon, Georgia Giant, Titan, and Krewer from Isons. I am eagerly awaiting a chance to sample ripe fruit.
I’m in the north so only grow northerns, but must say most are better than store bought. I’m not a big fan of sweet fruit, and it may be just my taste buds. I prefer the ones I grow. Sweet is fine but often that’s it, not much of a taste.
i like a balance of sweet and tart, a complexity of flavors. sweet bland fruit turns me off to it. if its boring its gone! ill take a slightly underripe y. transparent over a ripened honeycrisp any day. i prefer all of my blueberry varieties to store bought. northsky so far is my favorite. closest taste I’ve seen to the wild blueberries grown here.
This time next year I will be looking at some to add/ Well I have already been looking and Northsky in! So in Norythland and Hannah’s choice. I need time to prep the area. If I can get it done early enough I will order this year. I just doubt I can. I can’t get to the spot till about April 7th. When the ferry starts to run, plus I have all kinds of work to do to open my cottage.
Drew,
Is your cottage in Canada or on the border with it?
I was looking at the members map and saw what looked like a boundary line near it’s location.bb
Right on the border, you can see Canada across the south channel. The middle of the south channel is the border. My phone thinks I’m in Canada all the time. The last few years it’s been a pain as Homeland Security and The Border Patrol stop us all the time when coming to the mainland. My cottage is about 500 yards away from the middle of the channel. Yeah they think we’re Canadians. They caught people coming across near us. Mostly Chinese. Once a Middle Eastern man in wet gear and scuba tanks made it to our island in the winter, they got him. He was hiding in a shed!
I wanted t follow up I ended up planting Northland and Darrow at my cottage. They are still alive which there means they are doing good! Planted in peat and pine only in raised bed.
Speaking of blueberries today I picked some Chandler berries. Just a few, most are not ripe yet.
Been picking blueberries for almost a month now. I grow 12 northern high bush varieties. Also a few southern highbush and rabbit eyes to round out the collection.
Of the early ones, I really like Olympia. Large fruit, nice blueberry flavor. Very productive.
Cool I was looking for something hardy and good. Northland was perfect. Oh I went with Draper not Darrow. Mostly because I wanted to only order from one place, and also decided since Northland is a moderate size berry to have something bigger. Out of the choices Draper fit the bill. Large berry, good shelf life, and from my alma mater Michigan State University… So I have to at least try it. It was developed here, so will work here.
I didn’t go with Northsky because it being lowbush, I would want another for good pollination. Having all highbush I’m getting excellent pollination. At my cottage Northland (a highbush too) and Draper are the only blueberries on the island. I also have the only hazelnuts, hickory too. And the only honeyberries. Which have a possible potential to spread. I brought currants onto the island and in only 4 years I found a patch of seedlings already! About 20 feet from my garden in the woods.
This is my 3rd harvest so far but I don’t remember what variety. I planted them the lazy way. I put a bale of peat on top at the beginning of the season and that was it.
actually north sky is a mid sized, between a low and high bush. i grow it here because the snow doesn’t rip the branches off of it like the high bushes.
