lucifer53,I hope you don't mind me asking but where did you get your wild bluebeery bushes or lowbush blueberry bushes? Did you have to go all the way to Maine to buy them? Thanks. Sarah

Sarah,
Wild blueberries (Species Vaccinum, AKA low bush blueberry or Huckleberry) are wild over most of PA. I have them on my land down here in Chester county, and have seen them up near the Water Gap and out near State College.

An interesting note: I read somewhere that somewhere in PA there was a single plant of it which had spread by runners over many acres. They estimated it must have been there over 10,000 years.

George

Here is a link that might be useful: Wild blueberies

Thanks George for that information and link. I'm just annoyed at myself I could have bought some this past August and didn't. I hope it will be available again this year. Sarah

I'm in Cheltenham (Montgomery County), and I've been planning to plant some lowbush blueberry. Several local nurseries list bluberry. The varieties you see in the catalogs are cultivars - genetically identical clones propegated from cuttings. If you're a commercial fruit producer, this is the most reliable way to select plants, but there are downsides to inhibiting genetic diversity. I've heard the best blueberry seeds are the ones you extract from bear scat.

Local nurseries
http://www.edgeofthewoodsnursery.com/
http://www.redbudnativeplantnursery.com/
http://www.yellowspringsfarm.com/

Nayls142 - Hi. I realize this thread is little old, but I just found it. I live in Cheltenham too, and I'm planning to try blueberries this year. Are you currently growing them? If so, have you had any success? I was going to order a low bush variety from http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=52 I was wondering if you had any soil preparation tips. Thanks.

The responses of this thread have been leaning hard toward low bush blueberries. They wouldn't be my first choice unless you prefer picking from your knees. There are many highbush varieties that do well in PA. Most varieties grown in NJ are suitable for here too.

Varieties are a matter of preference and there are traits of bush size, winter hardiness, frost resistance, berry size, flavor, shape, ease of picking, shelf life,etc. Blue Crop is a standard variety that others are based on and reliably so. But try a few imported varieties, noted for doing well here like Toro or Reka. Nelson, Sierra, Duke, Patriot and Bonus have also all done well for me. I have not had problems with Chandler (huge berry) but it is questionable if you are in zone 5.

You should get the soil pH lowered before planting and have a good source for sawdust or peat based mulch to keep shallow roots from drying out. Some varieties also have fall ornamental value- leaves turn shades of red. Finally plant an extra 20-30 bushes to feed the birds or there won't be any left for you.

Another late answer! I planted 3 bushes in my Allentown area garden (half-high a variety called NorthBlue) which do well. The birds (who I planted them for) love them and while I had hoped to pick my own fromt he bush too, that is seldom the case! My soil is somewhat acidic...not 4-5 range by any means. But they do ok anyway.
Robin

Do the bushes take well to the winter, i.e. no die back due to the sub-zero temps we get. I'd like to plant a few for myself, the birds can stay w/ the provided bird seed :op

Most of the northern highbush are rated to at least Zone 5. I expect the northern lowbush would be similar. You shouldn't have any problems with them. These plants are natives to the area and many of the recognized cultivars were bred over in Jersey.

I'm going to try Blueberries, too.

I think I've got the perfect spot. It's where the driveway used to be, a gravel base covered with about a foot of well-rotted horse manure and wood shavings. The soil is fluffy and peaty, and always slightly wet. Nothing grows well there. I've never tested the ph, but have read that using wood shavings to amend soil results in high acidity.

The Raintree catalog has lots of blueberry varieties. I might try one called Jersey, and two or three others.

Hi, I am in Clearfield. The wild blueberry plants grow all over here up above where I live. There are short ones and also tall varietys. Just a tid bit of info. ~~Sandy~~

Here in Forest Co. our Conservation District in cooperation with the 4-H club and Penn State cooperative sells fruit trees each year.
The blueberry bushes that they offer, are Bluecrop, Jersey, an Duke bush. They offer one of each variety in a set for $24 a set.
I was thinking about taking them up on that offer!

(delivery is by pick up only at Tionesta)

Here are some links: mcfarland@co.forest.pa.us
ForestExt@psu.edu

Our family really enjoyed U pick berries this year. We are ready to grow our own. Our garden area runs to clay though. Are there varieties for clay soil...

We piled up the branches from the spruce we had to take out recently. Hope to run them though a chipper to use for mulching our bushes to be. Is that a good idea?

Favorite nursery for berries?

Hi I live in Berwick. Last year I bought "blue crop" blueberries from Boston Berry Farm here out side of Berwick. They did really well all last year. Even had berries on them over the summer the size of my thumb even though I bought them at normal picking time. The made it through the winter perfectly with just alittle hay thowed around them. I would deffiently recomend them. They are some nice little plants (soon to be big hopefully with enough love) :)

"Boston Berry Farm" where is that located in reference to Rt 11 near Happy Buffet? How many did you plant?

I got my lowbush wild blueberry from Edge of the Woods Nursery. It's near Fogelsville and from Bloomsburg maybe just under two hours. Worth a trip because the whole nursery is very cool. They have highbush varieties too, all are wild. Call them before you head out, they can give you advice it it's worth a trip. Also check maybe with Penn State Cooperative Extension, they may have a list of recommended cultivars. My blueberry bush took a beating this winter from devil bunnies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Edge of the Woods Nursery