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adam211_gw

Blueberries for Seattle - cross-pollination, good varieties, etc.

adam211
10 years ago

I'm in Seattle, and have a small yard.

I'm posting this here because I've seen some conflicting information on whether a variety is early-, mid-, or late-season (probably because it varies on geography?) and also conflicting information on whether northern highbush can cross-pollinate southern highbush. So I have some specific questions for my area and am also looking for suggestions for good varieties.

I want to place some blueberries as a small, light, simple border and then maybe a couple others nearby. I think it'd be nice for the hedge to be consistent, airy, and beautiful year round, so I was thinking Sunshine Blue which seems to be a great mix of flavor, beauty, and size for my purposes.

My priorities are:
1. Beauty
2. Flavor
3. Bounty

I would like to try another variety or two, both for sake of variety and to increase the produce of Sunshine Blue. So far I'm thinking Misty and Sweetcrisp. Sweetcrisp for flavor. I'm less sold on Misty as its reviews are more mixed but it seems like a decent berry and nice shapes, so I may skip it altogether.

Now, the blueberry flowering charts seem to all be slightly different, and I can't even find a chart including Sweetcrisp. Best I can tell, the Sweetcrisp and Misty will cross-pollinate and the Sweetcrisp and Sunshine Blue will cross-pollinate, and all will be great because they are all southern highbush?

I was considering something else for additional flavor, like Liberty or Legacy or Cara's Choice or Hannah's Choice, but then don't I have to be careful for the season to get those to fruit? I could plant two that bloom at the same time, I suppose, but that's again where I need help because information is scarce/varied.

Maybe a good option is a hedge of 4-5 Sunshine Blue, and 1 each Sweetcrisp, Legacy, and Liberty, and maybe a Peach Sorbet out of curiosity I think those would all have another species flowering at the same time and also provide me lots of flavor and a good show of color with all the Sunshine Blue, plus they produce in different seasons which is a huge plus.

Does this seem to be a good mix? Will the Sunshine Blue/Sweetcrisp and Legacy/Liberty cross-pollinate? I'm also little concerned the Sweetcrisp/Legacy/Liberty are too large for my small garden. Do they get overly big/bushy, and can I trim them back?

Thanks!

Adam

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