Blueberry Varieties


Earliblue - Zones 7-5
Introduced from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 1952, Earliblue is the earliest in season and first to ripen. They are large, light blue, sweet flavored berries. The upright bush produces stout canes with bright red wood and large glossy green leaves. Earliblue is moderately vigorous and easy to grow. It continues to be popular for a fresh market and U-Pick variety as it produces the first quality berries on the market. For best results, avoid frost pockets and poorly drained soil. Closer spacing is popular with Earliblue and most other early varieties to increase production.
Bluetta - Zones 7-4
Bluetta is a consistently bearing variety that does well in hot climates. This self-fruiting, compact, spreading bush produces crops of sweet, medium sized berries that are resistant to cracking and to spring frosts. In fact, it is more frost and winter hardy than Earliblue. Bluetta ripens very early and is excellent fresh eating berry. The bush is short, compact and low-spreading. The fruit is medium-sized, soft and blue-black with fair flavor. Avoid heavy, wet soils with Bluetta.

Duke - Zones 7-4
As one of the leading northern highbush varieties in the West and many other parts of the world, Duke blooms late but ripens early. They are a large, firm, light blue fruit with a mild flavor (that improves with cold storage). Duke is a very heavy and consistent producer. They average over 20 pounds per bush at maturity. The bush is open, stocky, multi-caned, upright, and very productive. Heavy pruning is advised to retain large berry size. One of the only disadvantages is that it can be challenging to keep the bush vigorous and growing well over a long period of time.
Spartan - Zones 7-5
Spartan ripens early and is a very large, light blue fruit. Its average size can cover a quarter and the bush size can be 5 to 6 feet at maturity. Spartan flavor is one of the best of all the highbush varieties. The large glossy green leaves turn orange and yellow in the fall. Spartan can be particular about soil type requiring well-drained sandy loam with lots of organic matter.
Patriot - Zones 7-3
Patriot ripens early and is a vigorous, low growing, short stature, spreading bush with pliable branches that will yield to heavy snow loads during the winter. It can grow up to 4 feet high at maturity and can tolerate less than ideal conditions such as wet or heavy soils. It is highly productive as you can expect 10 to 20 pounds per bush at maturity. Patriot bushes bear very large, medium blue, slightly flat fruit. These berries have excellent flavor, small dry picking scar, and are firm if the weather is not too hot. The berries hang in large clusters like grapes on the outer periphery of the bush. Patriot makes an excellent landscape variety with its showy white blooms in the spring, dark green summer foliage, and fiery orange fall color.
Bluejay - Zones 7-4
Early to midseason. The fruit is medium sized, light blue fruit with small, dry picking scar. Bluejay is very firm with thick skin and is a very fast grower - almost twice as fast as other varieties. The Bush is extremely vigorous, medium spreading with medium to high productivity. Expect the bush to be 6 to 7 feet tall at maturity with light green summer foliage, yellow-orange leaves in the fall, and bright yellow winter wood color. The bush grows rapidly and is easy to establish. Berries are borne on loose clusters that will hang for long periods of time so that most of the fruit can be harvested in one picking. The medium sized berry is acceptable for fresh but is best suited for the process market. Overall production has been excellent if Bluejay is protected from frost during bloom.
Northland - Zones 7-3
Early to midseason. Fruit is medium blue, very sweet, and medium sized. Northland bushes only reach about 4 feet wide and 4 feet tall at maturity but are very productive. It often yields around 20 pounds per bush at maturity. Northland performs quite well in cold climates or where extremes of winter-summer temperatures may preclude other varieties.
Blueray - Zones 7-4
Introduced from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in 1955; early midseason. These powder blue berries are very large, firm, with medium to large scar and great flavor. The firm skin of Blueray is resistant to cracking. The upright, multi-caned, productive, vigorous bush grows to about 5 feet tall at maturity. Blueray particularly excels in marginal blueberry growing areas where winters are more severe, but northern highbush can still be grown. It does best in intensive plantings with severe pruning.
Chandler - Zones 7-4
Mid to late season. It produces the largest blueberry with medium color, medium picking scar, and excellent flavor. Its long ripening season usually averages 4 to 6 weeks. Chandler berries can usually cover a quarter in size but some are actually larger. Bushes can reach 5 to 6 feet tall at maturity. Chandler is a 1994 USDA release noted for its exceptionally large, high quality fruit. It is recommended for production in areas with milder winters where high-chill varieties do well.
Toro – Zones 7-4
Midseason. Toro is a sky blue, consistently large fruit characterized by mild flavor, medium picking scar, and outstanding firm quality. Toro was named for its stocky, compact bush habit. While not as fast a grower as some of the other varieties, Toro is an outstanding ornamental blueberry. The flowers turn from hot pink to bright white and contrast nicely with the bronze colored spring foliage. The deep green summer foliage turns to the brightest of reds in fall. Toro may possess the best overall fresh market quality fruit of any variety. These easy to pick berries are borne on large clusters that hang like grapes from the spreading stocky bush.
(1613-A) - Hardyblue – Zones 7-4
Midseason. Very productive, medium sized, light blueberries with a very sweet flavor. Hardyblue has the reputation of being quite adaptable to many soil types, including heavier clay soils. The bushes are open with strong canes. Foliage becomes brilliant yellow-orange in fall and exposes dark red stems once it falls. Hardyblue has white, bell-shaped flowers in spring. A vigorous, upright grower to 6 to 8 feet tall and wide.
Bluecrop - Zones 7-4
Midseason. Bluecrop is still the industry’s standard of excellence, most reliable and by far the most widely planted of any cultivar. It is the leading commercial variety in North America. An easy bush to grow, Bluecrop has very few problems. It can withstand spring frosts quite well with high consistent yields. The fruit can be tart and show a large percentage of “red backs” if picked too early. It is characterized by very large, light blue fruit and is very productive with small picking scar. Bushes grow 4 to 6 feet tall at maturity.
Bluegold - Zones 7-4
Midseason. Bluegold fruit is very round, sky blue, exceptionally firm, with a small recessed scar. Bluegold has a heavy fruiting habit with large clusters. Bushes are compact and round and grow to up to 4 feet tall at maturity. The berries are very firm, flavorful and evenly sized. Autumn foliage and winter wood are golden yellow, followed by bright white blooms in the spring.
Olympia - Zones 7-5
Midseason. Olympia is easy to grow with large spreading bushes that have emerald green leaves and bright red fall color. Berries are a medium blue, medium sized fruit with a small picking scar and thin skin. Olympia is said to be one of the best flavored berries and adapts well to most soils.
Berkeley - Zones 7-5
Late Midseason. Berkley was first introduced in 1949. Large, open loose clusters of large, firm, powder blue fruit with no cracking. Berkeley has a mild pleasing flavor with high dessert quality. Also a good variety for freezing. Vigorous and productive spreading bush with heavy yellow canes. Berkeley is the most popular variety of the home garden. Ensure to avoid frost pockets or colder exposed areas. Berkeley has bright yellow wood in the winter.
Rubel - Zones 7-4
Late Midseason. This “heritage” blueberry was one of the first ever selected, discovered growing wild in the Pinelands of New Jersey in 1912. It has continued to be popular all of these years with commercial growers because of its uniformly small fruit, dark color, and intense flavor. These are the perfect baking berries. Blueberries are attracting attention from all points due to their extremely high antioxidant levels. Now current research has shown that Rubel scores almost twice as high as most other blueberries. Rubel is a strong, upright bush of six feet or more at maturity. It is a consistent producer and easy to pick. It is a very consistent producer of small fruit and is considered a wild blueberry. Food manufacturers covet the small fruit as one of the best for muffins, yogurts and dried products. The long slender deep green leaves will turn a burgundy red in the autumn and red twigs in the winter. Flowers in the spring are white with a sweet aroma.
Legacy - Zones 8-5
Late midseason. Legacy is a 1993 USDA release from New Jersey with medium sized, light blue fruit, great flavor, and a very small picking scar. Bushes grow 6 to 7 feet tall at maturity. Legacy actually keeps its leaves during the winter. Foliage will turn bright orange in colder climates but stay green in mild to warm climates. Legacy is a very heavy producer and rated as one of the best flavored varieties in USDA trials.
Brigitta - Zones 7-4
Late season. Brigitta has medium/large, light blue fruit with a small picking scar and can be firm and slightly tart. Bush can grow up to 6 feet tall at maturity. Brigitta is known to be a high producer of late ripening, high quality fruit. This easy to grow hybrid yields one of the highest quality berries available. The slightly spreading bush is a fast grower with deep green foliage and bronze tinted new growth.
Jersey - Zones 7-4
Late season. Jersey is a medium blue, medium to small sized fruit. One of the oldest but most dependable varieties that adapts well in most soils. Characterized as a very sweet fruit with consistently high yields. Extremely vigorous, large, upright bushes often reaching 7 feet tall at maturity. Jersey is one of the oldest varieties and one of the most dependable. It grows well in most types of soil, producing consistently high yields of very sweet fruit. Jersey is best suited for the process market where a small to medium sized berry is desirable. It is a favorite for home gardeners wanting an easy to grow, heavy producing late season variety. A reliable producer year after year.
Darrow - Zones 7-5
Late season. Darrow boasts the largest berries of all blueberry cultivars with some fruit actually reaching half-dollar size! The fruit is slightly flat, firm, light blue, with a tart flavor, and a large picking scar. The bush is quite vigorous, reaching 5-6 feet at maturity. Darrow does not produce as heavily in the colder zones as it does in milder areas.
Elliott - Zones 7-4
Very late season. For the last decade, Elliott has been the leading late season blueberry for the fresh market. It is used extensively in CA storage programs to extend shelf life for up to 12 weeks. The berries are medium sized, light blue with high acid, small picking scar, and slightly tart flavor that ripen over a long period of four to five weeks depending on location. It is consistently rated as one of the highest producers in most highbush trial sites around the world. Elliott has moderate vigor and must be adequately pruned to retain bush growth and berry size. These are firm berries with small picking scar and considered a fall bearing blueberry. In most Northern areas, Elliot can produce right through September. With this variety, home gardeners can enjoy fresh berries clear through September. Bright burgundy colored wood accents the grey-green foliage and sky blue berries. The late bloom period misses most spring frost and the heavy bud set on Elliott assures the grower of bountiful crops.