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 a nice acid-sugar balance
• Fruit has a slightly frosted appearance
• Upright, open growing bush to 4 to 6 feet tall, brilliant scarlet fall color
• Leading commercial variety in North America

Bluetta

• Northern highbush -- Vaccinium corymbosum
• Medium-sized, good-quality fruit
• Compact bush reaching 3 to 4 feet tall 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 the 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 to 6 feet tall
• Cold hardy, but tolerant of high temperatures

Gulf Coast

• Southern highbush with a very low chill hour requirement
• Concentrated ripening about a week to 10 days after Sharpblue
• Medium to large fruit
• Tangy good flavor
• Compact bushy growth habit, which makes nice landscape plants because highly branched

Marimba

• Southern Highbush with chill hours requirements of 150 to 300 hours
• Very vigorous, upright, and highly branched, reaching 4 to 6 feet at maturity
• Good potential for the landscape because of its 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 a low chill hour requirement
• Small to medium-sized berries that are firm with a very good tart flavor
• Bears a very heavy crop earlier than all the rest, with a second small harvest in the fall
• Care should be taken not to 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 hour requirement of 200 to 300 hours
• Very large-sized fruit with a mild, sweet to bland flavor
• Bush is vigorous and upright to 6 feet tall
• 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 the research team
• Vigorous and upright narrow bush to 5 to 6 feet tall
• Easy to grow variety that thrives in both hot climates and cool coastal areas
• Striking, hot pink blossoms cover the bush in spring

Sunshine Blue

• Southern highbush
• Low chill hour 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 the 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 the plant
• Fruit is medium-small size, with a mild flavor
• Deciduous with foliage turning a blazing crimson color in the fall
• A dwarf-type cultivar, good in a defined border or growing in a container as small as 2½ 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, and Sharpblue, died before they could be fully evaluated due to extreme alkaline soil and water conditions.