Blueberries

[Astronuc]

Charity, that's pretty cool.  Keep track of those wild blueberries.  If you can, transplant some near your home during winter when they are dormant.

I would like to get my hands on some wild blueberries so I can propagate them with the more domesticated variety.  Wild blueberries grow in the hills (low mountains) like the Catskills and Shawangunks in NY, not too far from where I live.  There are also wild brambles (raspberries and blackberries) around too.  I have wild blackberries growing on the hill behind my house.

[Charity]

I'm not sure they could live in my soil. I live on top of a great sand hill, even after I added tons of compost and top soils, it drains dry with in one day of a heavy rain.
 Birds gave me some wild strawberrys, which have run a-muck on the hill. And I plan on just letting them grow, the wild life goes crazy over them.

[Astronuc]

Blueberries are cultivated in sandy soil based on what I have seen of blueberry plantations.  Their root systems are very localized.  Like brambles, blueberries need slightly acidic soil conditions with pH about 5.5-6.

Drainage is also important so the roots don't rot, so it sounds like your sandy hill is ideal.

I was surprised to find wild blueberries growing near mountain tops - actually along some ridges, at 2000 ft and above.  The plants were low bushes, actually more like shrubs, and they were growing in sandy soil.  The fruit was smaller than that of my domestic plants, and that may have been due to lack of nutrients, non-optimal pH, or dry (slight drought) conditions.

[Charity]

Wild blueberrys are a lot smaller then domestic ones. But I will try and transplant some. Maybe get ones from each end of the landing strip, incase I need cross pollenation?

[Astronuc]

I have 6 varieties of blueberries - all of domestic varieties.  I do plan to procure some wild varities for purposes of cross-pollination.

When it comes to genetic diversity - the more, the merrier!

[Astronuc]

Well, now I have 6 varieties - I just planted my 7th blueberry bush.  Of the 6 I had, two plants were the same variety.  So now I have:

Jersey (2)
Bluecrop
Bluejay
Blueray
Patriot (high bush)
Elliot (high bush - late season bearing)

[Astronuc]

My wife came across a site that has a nice list of blueberry varieties.

http://www.citygardening.net/bluevar/

There are several different species of blueberries which are grown in North America for their fruit.

Lowbush Blueberries(V. augustifolium Ait) grows wild in northeastern states and Canada. The plants grow between 6 to 18 inches high.  Common lowbush has shiny smooth tooth leaves. Black Lowbush (V. augustifolium forma nigrum) has blue-green leaves with shiny black berries. They are pollinate by various types of bees. The berries have excellent flavor but are of a smaller size.

Highbush blueberries (V. corymbosum L) grow wild from Florida to Maine and from Ontario to southern Michigan. The plants grow to between 8 to 10 feet high. The berries are sweet with a mild flavor. They have been grown up into zone 3 but their southern range is limited by a fairly high chilling requirement of 700 hours or greater.

Dryland Blueberries (V. pallidum Ait) grow from northern Alabama and Georgia to Maryland and West Virginia. The plants grow between 1 to 5 feet high and spread by underground shoots. They are drought resistant and survive in fairly poor soils. The bluberries are tasty and ripen later than lowbush and highbush cultivars.

Evergreen blueberries (V. ovatium Par.) are grown in California, Oregon, and Washington. The plants grow up to 20 feet high. The berries are shiny black with a very strong flavor which makes them more suitable for pies than eating fresh.

Mountain blueberries (V. membranaceaum Doug) grow in the northwest part of the United States. They grow between 3 to 5 feet tall. The berries are black or maroon with a tart flavor.

Rabbiteye blueberries (V. ashei Read) grow in the southeastern part of the United States. They can grow between 10 to 25 feet high. They thrive in hot humid environments. They are not as cold hardy as other cultivars and so they are generally limited to growing in zones 6 or above. The berries are small and somewhat gritty. They generally required more than one cultivar to get good fruit set.

Southern highbush is a cross between northern highbush varieties and blueberry species native to Florida.

Highbush cultivars

Berkeley - Midseason. Zone 4 to 8. Large berries with a mild sweet flavor.
Bluechip - Midseason. Zone 3 to 7. Large firm berry.
Bluecrop - Midseason. Zone 4 to 7. Large bright blueberry with good slightly tart flavor.
Bluejay - Midseason. Zone 4 to 7. Medium to large blueberrie with a mild slightly tart flavor.
Blueray - Midseason. Zone 4 to 8. Large blue very sweet berries.
Bounty - Early to Midseason. Zone 3 to 7. Very large light blue escellent flavored berry
Bluetta - Early. Zone 3 to 7. Blue-black small to medium berry
Collins - Early. Zone 4 to7. Very large excellent flavored berry.
Coville - Late. Zone 5 to 8. Large intensly flavored blue berries.
Croatan - Early. Zone 3 to7. Medium to Large medium firm berry.
Darrow - Late. Zone 5 to 7. Large, light blue berries with an excellent flavor.
Duke - Early. Zone 5 to 7. Medium to large blueberry with a good flavor.
Earliblue - Early. Zone 5 to 7. Light blue medium to large berries with a sweet and mild flavor.
Elliot - Late. Zone 3 to 7. Light blue small to medium firm berry.
Ivanhoe - Early. Zone 5 to 7. Large blue sweet berries.
Jersey - Late. Zone 3 to7. Medium to large firm good tasting berry.
Patriot - Early to midseason. Zone 3 to 7. Large blue berry with a good flavor.
Sierra - Early to midseason. Zone 4 to 7. Large berry with excellent flavor.
Spartan - Early to Midseason. Zone 5 to 7. Large powderly blue berry with excellent flavor.
Top Hat - Early. Zone 3 to7. Medium average tasting berry.
Toro - Early to Midseason. Zone 3 to 7. Medium good flavored firm berry.
Wolcott - Midseason. Zone 3 to 7. Medium blue medium sized fruit

Rabbiteye cultivars (required two or more different cultivars to get fruit)

Aliceblue - Early. Zones 6 to 9. Medium to large light blue berry with sweet flavor.
Baldwin - Late. Zones 6 to 10. Firm dark blue berry with good flavor.
Beckyblue - Early. Zones 6 to 9. Medium to large berry with sweet flavor.
Bluebelle - Midseason. Zone 6 to 10. Large light blue berries with excellent flavor.
Bonita - Early. Zone 6 to 9. Light blue medium to large excellent flavored fruit.
Brightwell - Early to midseason. Zone 7 to 9. Medium light blue berry with a sweet flavor.
Briteblue - Late. Zone 6 to 10. Firm large blue sweet berries.
Centurion - Late. Zone 6 to 9. Medium to large blue berry with good taste.
Chaucer - Early to midseason. Zone 6 to 9. High yielding medium sized berry.
Choice - Mid to late. Zone 6 to 9. Medium dark colored berry.
Climax - Early. Zone 7 to 9. Medium to large dark blue berry with sweet flavor.
Delite - Late. Zone 6 to 10. Large light blue sweet berry.
Garden Blue - Early to midseason. Zone 6 to 10. Medium light blue excellent flavor berry.
Misty Blue - Zone 6 to 10. Large very sweet berry.
Powder Blue - Late. Zone 6 to 9. Medium very sweet berry.
Premier - Early to midseason. Zone 6 to 9. Large light blue berry with excellent flavor.
Southland - Mid to late season. Zone 6 to 9. Medium to large good tasting berry.
Tiftblue - Mid to late season. Zone 7 to 9. Large round light blue sweet berry.
Woodard - Early. Zone 6 to 9. Large firm light blue berry with excellent quality only when fully ripen.

Southern Highbush

Bladen - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Light blue medium sized berry.
Blue Ridge - Early to midseason. Zone 6 to 10. large firm light blue berry.
Cape Fear - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Light blue large berry.
Cooper - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Firm good tasting berry.
Georgia Gem - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Firm very good flavored berry.
Gulf Coast - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Firm excellent tasting berry.
Misty - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Light blue very large sweet berry.
O'Neal - Very early. Zone 6 to 10. Firm medium blue colored large good flavored berry.
Reveille - Early. Zone 6 to 10. Light blue firm medium size berry.
Sharpblue - Early. Zones 6 to 10. Dark blue large good flavored berry.
Sunshine Blue - Midseason. Zone 7 to 9. Light blue medium sized good
tasting berry.

Hybrids (between low and high bush species)
All are zones 3 to 7 and midseason.


Chippewa - Medium sized sweet berry.
Northblue - large sweet wild flavored berries
Northcountry - medium sweet berries
Northland - small excellent wild flavor berry.
Northsky - small to medium light blue berry with excellent wild flavor.
St. Cloud - firm small to medium light blue with a good flavor

There is lots of good information at this site.