Planting Blueberries
Gardening March 29th, 2010Our recent trip to the local nursery found us bringing something home that wasn’t on our list. These beautiful flowering Monrovia Jubilee and Misty Early Season Blueberries caught our eye.
These varieties are southern highbush blueberries, which have been adapted to withstand the hot summer months in the south and grow well in our area. They differ from the lowbush varieties that grow in the pacific northwest because they will grow 4-5+ feet tall if left untamed.
One bush will produce on its own and additional varieties are not necessary for pollination however, it greatly increases the yield.
These are the 2 varieties we decided on:
The common thread in all of our gardening has been and probably always will be a concern of where we can fit everything. Soft fruits pose an additional dilemma… how to protect the fruit from the sky predators. Knowing they will need to be netted or completely caged to protect from birds our options were somewhat limited.
It came as good news to us that blueberries do best in a raised bed or a container because they need highly acidic soil.
The goal for this year is to get our permanent garden plot established and enclosed. The blueberries will have a raised bed to call their own. In the mean time they will live on our deck safely protected from 4 legged critters and netted when they begin to fruit.
February 14th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
[...] In order from left to right we’ve got: Southmoon Southern Highbush blueberry which is a mid to late season producer, vigorous upright shape, will reach 5-6’ tall and should remain green through the fall and winter. Oneal Southern Highbush blueberry which is a very early producer, upright spreading shape, 4-6’ mature height, and should grace us with orange/wine colored fall foliage. Can’t wait to see that. Legacy Northern Highbush blueberry is on the far right. He is a late season producer with an open spreading shape, 4-6’ mature height, and beautiful crimson fall foliage. These are going to join the pair from last year which include: Misty Early Season Southern Highbush blueberry which is a mid-summer to fall producer, upright shrub shape, 5-6’ mature height, and in cold winters will show red foliage. Jubilee Southern Highbush blueberry is last but not least. She is a late summer to fall producer, has a compact upright shape, 4-5’ mature height, and yellow-orange fall foliage. More detail on these 2 are here: planting blueberries. [...]