I am not a berry grower, but I checked my notes from a class I took with an NC State professor. He said that of the Southern Highbush type of blues, O'Neal and Reveille are good and of the Rabbiteye type, Tif Blue and Premier were suggested. Finch's Blueberry Nursery in Bardy, NC was recommended. NOT any plants from any NJ nursery.

Dorman Red was given as the hardiest variety of raspberries.

claire in sanford

Here's a link to Finch's nursery in Bailey. I have relatives in Bladen Co. and the Sanford area who raise blueberries and consider this the best source for bushes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finch's Blueberry Nursery

Anyone know how to tell the difference between a rabbiteye and a highbush? I've got wild bluberries growing all over the place and Dirr's descriptions weren't specific enough for me to tell the two apart.

My notes (sorry about the typo on Bailey, NC...the stupid or blind Yankee in me) indicate that Highbush fruit in late May, and are tall, 4.5 feet average, whereas the Rabbiteyes are later (July), following the HB in season and produce for a good 3 weeks.

I do love blueberries, but everything I read says "full sun."

yes, I heeled in some shoots from my dad's blueberry bushes between my two chestnut trees in the side yard. It was June and hot and I didn't think they'd survive if I planted them in the full sun. They've been there 1.5 seasons now, and are growing but not producing. This spring, or in the fall at the latest, I plan to move them to a new border that I will be creating along the fenceline at the end of my property. Construction there has given me a new fence and a huge drop off. I hope to plant blueberries and raspberries and the end nearest the road and my driveway...full sun and they won't get big and block the view to check for traffic. Further along the fence I plan for evergreens, bushes, and perennials (tall evergreens where I want to block the houses, and lower plantings where I want to preserve the views). The fence just went in 2 weeks ago as opposed to the end of May which is what was initially proposed when they started construction. Its hard to know what to do until I see where they will be planting the trees on THEIR side of the fence. It won't do me any good to put the blueberries on my side and then have them plant trees on their side!

I don't know what kind of blueberries my dad has...he planted 4 varieties and they are heavy producers in the Salisbury, NC area.

The rabbiteye blueberries are more drought and heat resistant and so do well in the piedmont and coastal plain, though there's also southern highbush, which I think is a cross between rabbiteye and highbush.
To get better fruit production, you should plant more than one variety. They need good drainage which shouldn't be a problem with your sandy soil. And they are susceptible to over-fertilization. NC State has some good information on the web.
I don't know anything about raspberries.

i happened to have the page bookmarked because i'll be planting blueberries this spring. they came immediately to mind for my part-sun kitchen garden because of their shade tolerance - the woods on my grandmother's farm were loaded with wild blueberries - prolific producers in woodsy/shady exposure.

Here is a link that might be useful: nc state blueberry info

jimd719 - plant anything you can find for sale. I buy mine from the local garden centers and from big box retailers and haven't had any of them fail - NONE. 'Premier' is the only name I can remember off the top of my head but I know I have about 5 different cultivars. Most for sale right now are container grown and you can plant container grown plants at any time of the year (they do better in the cooler seasons). Bare root is another story - but I haven't seen them offered much. You want a mixture of breeds so that you harvest for over a month. If you only plant one type you will only get berries for a few weeks.

The two Raspberries that I grow are 'Jewel' a black raspberry and 'Heritage' a red. Jewel fruits earlier and Heritage starts mid to late summer and can continue til the first really hard freeze in my yard (I've picked berries for Christmas before). Keep in mind that 'Heritage' is very very very invasive. It is easy to control but your neighbors may not be as thrilled to have them as your wife is. They spread by runners so when you see a sprout pop up somewhere the runner will be between the sprout and the mama plant, pretty easy to chop it out. Also keep in mind that the fruit will not be as flavorful as folks from the north remember - something about the night time low temps helps sweeten the berries. Heritage can taste pretty good after our first frosts.

I grow both blueberries and raspberries in my half day sun yard. You don't get the bumper crop like a full sun garden gets but you'll have all the berries you and the songbirds will ever want. Oh, and I have sandy soil (not as sandy as Southern Pines area) and mine are doing fine - they like the drainage.

It's funny, the wild ones don't seem to need very good drainage, for many of mine grow in wet areas. They probably do not like heavy clay. One thing all blueberries need is acid soil. Dirr says 4.5-5.5 is preferred. Most soils in the Southeast are acid, just don't put lime anywhere near your blueberries, they'll hate it.

I thought this link was interesting: Blueberries -- Vaccinium species

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and your observations based on your experiences. I've tried a few (both blues and raspberries) in the past with not great results. I'm trying to do a little better research before trying again and hopefully it will pay off.

Got to keep the little lady happy. As the saying goes "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy".

Thanks again

Jim

i have reds, blacks, and crosses for the raspberries. as john said, blacks do well here, though you'd never guess from the lack of liturature on them. the purples have done really well, too. the reds need good winter drainage, especially. the one grower in the area i know of sprays fungicide in the winter on his, and he's on sand. mine are in clay and are doing ok, and i've never sprayed with anything. they have gone downhill somewhat through the yrs. and they are indeed very invasive. one nice thing about the blacks is they aren't- they will tip root, but they don't spread via running roots. you just can't let the tips touch the ground. as a cool bonus, the winter stems are electric purple. bear in mind, there are 2 types of reds- everbearing and summer. you get 1 crop out of summers & 2 out of everbearers. first crop is early june, 2nd is late fall til frost. summers fruit in later june. i have heritage(ever), dortmund(summer), jewel or bristol(black- can't remember, all blacks are summer), and royalty(purple- which behaves rather like a red in habit, but no second crop). i've tried the yellows, but they seem wimpy around here. they are very disease prone. i also have some red rasp/blackberry crosses that seem to be doing pretty well. nice thing about raspberries is they are putting out good fruit in yr 2, full crop yr 3. you do need decent sun- i'd say 5 hrs minimum. mine get barely enough. the one thing that will fruit in partial sun and does really, really well here is wineberry- an oriental berry that is similar to a red rasp. gorgeous, and we love the flavor. tart, but still sweet. it tip roots, and has 1 crop. if you come to the area, i'd be happy to give you a start- ed landscaping in va sells it, too.

blueberries do fruit in the shade, but aren't as sweet(except the wild low types). the more sun you can give them, the happier they are and the better they fruit. they will do ok with 4-5 hrs of afternoon sun if that's all you have- just don't expect the berries to be as big, plentiful or sweet as ones grown in sun(i got that lesson frist hand this yr). the rabbiteyes will get big- up to 10', so plan accordingly. i beleive the new southern highbush are supposed to top out at 5-6', and they don't need as low a ph as northerns. i wouldn't plant northern highbush- they don't appreciate the high humidity & heat. there are some nw natives i'm messing with that like shade, but they are still too small to say if they do well here. evergreen huckleberry, red huckle, & some others. i also transplanted some low growing varieties from a plant save in the woods that seem to be doing well. they haven't fruited yet, but hopefully will. blues will take 4or 5 yrs to really start cranking out fruit big time.

good luck! and enjoy your harvests.

My bushes are highbush, apparently the native range of the rabbiteye is southern Ga. and south. They aren't Mayberry either, the margins of the leaves are smooth.

Pure sand soil here. I have found Sunshine Blue (zone 5-9) to be an exceptional blueberry. It is self pollinating so you can grow just one in the ornamental garden if you wish. It has been bred to grow well in soils with a higher pH. The berries ripen over a long period of time, are medium size and very sweet. Grows to about 4' and is attractive enough to include in a front foundation planting. A very heavy producer. I have tried a number of southern blueberries and grow only this variety now. It is truly an outstanding shrub.

nandina
you've just described exactly the type of blueberry i'd hoped would be out there. thanks for the info!