Garden Help > Fruits & Nuts > Blueberries
Blueberry varieties testing conducted in Santa Clara County to evaluate the following characteristics of each of the varieties: flavor, productivity, harvest season, landscape value including plant form, foliage characteristics, fall foliage color, and winter ornamental value. Be sure to consider chill hour requirements when selecting varieties to grow.
Bluecrop
- Northern highbush -- Vaccinium corymbosum
- Consistently good producer in San Jose starting in late May
- Medium sized, good quality fruit with nice acid sugar balance
- Fruit has a slightly frosted appearance
- Upright, open growing bush to 4-6 feet, brilliant scarlet fall color
- Leading commercial variety in North America
Bluetta
- Northern highbush -- Vaccinium corymbosum
- Medium sized, good quality fruit
- Compact bush reaching 3-4 feet at maturity
- Dense globe form and scarlet red fall foliage make it a good landscape choice
Duke
- Northern highbush -- Vaccinium corymbosum
- Early harvest, even though a later spring bloomer
- Medium sized mildly sweet flavor
- Upright grower, but branches will droop to ground when laden with fruit
- Foliage turns yellow-orange in fall
Earliblue
- Northern highbush -- Vaccinium corymbosum
- Said to require 800 chill hours for proper dormancy, but has been a very high yielder every year even though chill hours have fallen to less than 300.
- Early harvest
- Medium sized sweet fruit lacking
- Upright bush, stout canes with bright red wood
- Large glossy green leaves
Georgia Gem
- Southern Highbush - Suitable for California, both coastal and inland
- Low winter chill hours requirement of 200-300 hours
- Medium-large sized sweet fruit
- Upright multi-branched bush to 5-6 feet
- Cold hardy, but tolerant of high temperatures
Gulf Coast
- Southern highbush with very low chill hours requirement
- Concentrated ripening about a week - 10 days after Sharpblue
- Medium to large fruit
- Tangy good flavor
- Compact bushy growth habit which make nice landscape plants because highly branched
Marimba
- Southern Highbush with chill hours requirements of 150 - 300 hours
- Very vigorous, upright and highly branched reaching 4-6 feet at maturity
- Good potential for the landscape because of it’s compact, highly branched nature
- Berries are medium-large sized, firm with excellent blueberry flavor
- Flowers are hot pink fading to white
Misty
- Southern highbush with low chill hours requirements
- Small–medium size berries which are firm with a very good tart flavor
- Bears very heavy crop earlier than all the rest with a second small harvest in the fall
- Care should be taken to not let Misty overbear
- Has outstanding landscape characteristics with its striking hot pink buds and bushy, more upright growth than Sunshine Blue
- Very attractive dark green foliage
O’Neal
- Southern highbush, which is suitable for California, both coastal and inland
- Low chill hours requirement of 200-300 hours
- Very large sized fruit with a mild sweet – bland flavor
- Bush is vigorous and upright to 6 feet
- Foliage is attractive gray-green in summer accented with red stems and branches
Reveille
- Southern highbush requiring 500 chill hours
- Early season, medium-sized fruit
- Excellent, distinctive flavor fruit with a crisp texture
- Tasty even when picked slightly underripe
- Favorite flavor of research team
- Vigorous and upright narrow bush to 5-6 feet tall
- Easy to grow variety that thrives in both hot climates or cool coastal areas
- Striking, hot pink blossoms cover bush in spring
Sunshine Blue
- Southern highbush
- Low chill hours requirement of 150 hours, while being cold hardy
- Early - Midseason
- Has good landscape characteristics with its profusion of hot pink buds and blossoms, bushy compact to floppy growth habit, and attractive dark green leaves
- Features a highly branched growth habit to 3 feet
- Easily overbears and should be heavily pruned and thinned or fruit will be very small
- Good in a 5-gallon container
- Fruit is small with a good tangy flavor producing over an extended period
- Tolerates higher pH better than many other blueberry varieties
Top Hat
- Interspecific cross between Vaccinium augustifolium X V. corymbosum
- Midseason
- White flowers lasting several weeks completely cover plant
- Fruit is medium-small size, mild flavor
- Deciduous with foliage turning a blazing crimson color in the fall
- Dwarf type cultivar good in a defined border or growing in a container as small as 2 1/2 gallons
- Highly branched, ultra-compact, dwarf plant that would be excellent for bonsai
- Variable in size and compactness
The other varieties we trialed, Darrow, Sierra, Toro, Sharpblue, died before they could be fully evaluated due to extreme alkaline soil and water conditions.