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Fruit:
Dark blue, edible, sweet. Good for fresh eating, jams and
jellies.
Soil
Requirements: Low pH of 4.5 to 5.5, well-drained
soil.
Size: 20-30" tall and wide
Sun:
Full sun
Uses: Mixed border, shrub border, hedge or
as an accent or specimen plant. Attracts birds.
Hardiness: Zones 4-8
Native: to North America
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Developed by the University of Minnesota, this low-growing
blueberry is perfect for the home landscape. It doesn’t
take up much space, it’s easy to grow and you can get
fruit from just one plant (no pollinator required). The fruit
is dark blue, large and has a sweet flavor. It has glossy,
dark-green leaves that turn bright red in the fall. A mature
plant grows 20 to 30" tall and wide. Very winter hardy
to -30 degrees or lower.
What you'll receive:
2-year, field-grown plants with 12 to 18-inch long stems and
shipped bareroot (no soil or pot)
and dormant (no foliage). Learn more about
our plants.
Shipping: $0-$75=$12.00, $75.01-$125=$15, $125.01-$200=$20, >$200=10% of total. Shipped UPS Ground in
spring from early April through mid May.
[Catalog #FS08]
About Blueberries: In addition to the tasty
fruit, hardy blueberries make excellent landscape plants.
They have glossy-green leaves and attractive flowers and fruit.
And in the fall, the foliage turns brilliant orange to red
colors. Blueberries require an acid soil with a pH of 4.5
to 5.5 that is well-drained but consistently moist. Full sun
for best fruit production. Birds love blueberries so be sure
to plant enough to share!
Blueberries require an acid soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5
that is well-drained but consistently moist and high in organic
matter. They need full sun for best fruit production. Space
3-feet apart. Prune in late winter to maintain desired shape
and size.
To prepare your soil, first have it tested for pH. This can
be done through your county extension office or ask your garden
center for a soil testing kit. Next, add lots of organic matter
to increase soil fertility and drainage. Also add sulphur
to reduce the pH if necessary. Sulfur chips added to soil
will reduce the pH over time. Iron sulphate will reduce the
pH quickly, but is not long lasting. Here's a good soil amending
recipe for blueberries: for each plant, dig a hole 2-feet
wide and about 16-inches deep. Save the top 6 inches of soil
and mix in 1 or 2 bushels of compost or well-rotted sawdust
and 1 cup wettable sulfur. Mix well and backfill the hole
with this after setting your blueberry plant.
Blueberries are produced on one-year old wood. But during
the first five years after planting, prune your plants only
to remove dead or damaged growth. After five years, prune
in the spring before the leaves start to grow by cutting out
any weak, old stems at ground level. Keep four to six of the
vigorous older stems and one to two strong new shoots per
mature bush. The new shoots will eventually replace the older
stems.
Fertilize your plants once a year in the spring before the
plants bloom with a fertilizer formulated for acid-loving
plants, such as azaleas. Also, protect your plants from rabbit
damage in the winter by enclosing them in chicken wire.
What's a "bareroot" plant?
 "Bareroot"
is a term that describes how a plant is shipped to you. A
bareroot plant is not in a pot, and is usually dormant (not
actively growing). See the photo to the right that shows what
a bareroot rose looks like. The bareroot plants that we ship
to you were harvested in the fall and placed in cold storage
over the winter to keep them dormant. In the spring, we ship
the bareroot plants to our customers, from early April through
mid May.
Bareroot plants are easy to grow. We include planting instructions
with your order. When you receive your plant, take it out
of the packing material and place it in a bucket of water
so that the roots are completely covered. Let the roots soak
for 4 to 24 hours, then plant it in your garden. Full planting
instructions with photos are available on our planting
shrubs page.
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