Blueberry varieties testing in a Trial 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.

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 slight 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 chilling hours for proper dormancy, but has been a very high yielder every year even though chilling 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

• Suitable for California, both coastal and inland
• Low winter chill 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 chilling 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 winter chill requirements of 150 - 300 hours
• Very vigorous, upright and highly branched reaching 4-6 feet at maturity
• Good potential for 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 winter chill requirements
• Small- medium size berries which are firm with 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
• It has outstanding landscape characteristics with it’s striking hot pink buds, bushy, more upright growth than Sunshine Blue
• Very attractive dark green foliage

O’Neal

• Southern highbush, which are suitable for California, both coastal and inland
• Low winter chill requirement of 200-300 hours
• Very large sized fruit with 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 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 requirement of 150 hours, while being cold hardy.
• Early -Midseason
• It has good landscape characteristics with it’s profusion of hot pink buds and blossoms, bushy compact to floppy growth habit and attractive dark green features a highly branched growth habit to 3 feet. It 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. Fortunately I had most of the other varieties planted in my home garden where they continue to thrive.