Featured Plants : self-fertile

Patriot Blueberries Will Perform Like A Patriot

patti-nhn — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:05:00 GMT

The Patriot Blueberry Vaccinium 'Patriot' will produce a large dark blue berry that is extremely flavorful. It is possible to get 10 to 20 pounds of berries from just one bush! Just think of all the healthy ways you can use blueberries. They are awesome in jams, pies, fresh, salads, smoothies, cobbler and many other desserts. Not to mention that blueberries are nutritionally high in bioflavanoids and many vitamins.

This Patriot is considered a "highbush" as it will grow anywhere from 4 to 6 feet tall and will spread out about 4 to 6 feet wide. Beginning in May it will flower in bell-shaped white flowers. It is vigorous and the many clusters of berries will ripen in late July. In the fall, the leaves will turn to red and orange in color making them decorative as well. Blueberries require moist, well-drained soil. The Patriot is hardy from zone 4 to zone 8 and is self-pollinating but planting another blueberry bush will help to increase the harvest.

Blueberry Bluecrop Consistent Yield And High Quality

patti-nhn — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:01:00 GMT

If you like a firm light blue medium sized Blueberry, that is what you will get with the Bluecrop Blueberry Vaccinium 'Bluecrop'. This is one of the most popular varieties with its disease resistance, high yield and excellent quality. Blueberries are self-fertile but cross-pollination will result in a better crop. They will need full sun for best crop production as well.

The mature height of this plant is about 5 feet and will spread 4 to 6 feet. It requires moist well-drained soil. The Bluecrop white flowers pop out in May, the fruit ripens in early August and it has a red fall color. It is hardy from zones 4-7. Blueberries are chock full of vitamins and are a wonderful source of bioflavanoids. The Bluecrop Blueberry tastes great eaten fresh or in many types of desserts, smoothies, sauces, jams and syrups, just to name a few. It is also a price savings when you can grow your own.

Darrow Blackberries Are Honey Sweet!

patti-nhn — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:00:00 GMT

For a blackberry that is honey sweet, the Darrow is a great choice. The Darrow Blackberry Rubus 'Darrow' produces large berries which make them wonderful choices for fresh eating or also in decorative desserts. Obviously, you won't need as many when you are putting them in pies, jams and many other recipes. The Darrow is hardy, reliable and rust resistant which means a better yield for you. The berries themselves are a dark black and generally will be about 1 inch across in size.

The Darrow will need moist, well-drained soil. Full sun is required for good fruit production and it is self-pollinating, not requiring another blackberry to pollinate. The height of the plant can grow from 4 to 6 feet tall and spread as much as 3 to 4 feet across. They are hardy from zone 5 to zone 8. It produces white flowers in the spring and will start producing fruit generally in July. If you like blackberries, this is a great choice for you and by growing them yourself, you will be saving a lot of money.

Northsky Blueberries Are The Most Cold Hardy

patti-nhn — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:06:00 GMT

The Northsky Blueberry Vaccinium 'Northsky' is known for its cold hardiness, in fact it is most productive with winter snow cover. The Northsky grows in a compact mound from 4 foot to 6 foot and will spread 20 to 30 inches wide. It is self-fruitful but you will get more fruit production if you grow more than one blueberry plant. Its berries are small, sky blue in color, firm and flavorful.

Blueberries can be used in preserves, jams, jellies, in desserts and salads, as well as smoothies. Not only are they delicious but they are full of vitamins and bioflavanoids. The Northsky will be covered in snow white blooms in the spring. After fruiting in the summer, the foliage will be bright red. Birds love blueberries too so you will want to either protect them from the birds and/or provide a second plant just for them.

Sweet Strawberry Sparkle

patti-nhn — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:07:00 GMT

The Strawberry Sparkle Fragaria x ananassa 'Sparkle' is glossy crimson red that sparkles in the sunlight and it has an extremely sweet flavor. It has been called the "most delicious strawberry of all". This strawberry plant has so many good qualities it's hard to name them all. Sparkle is a very vigorous growing plant with many runners. It is very disease resistant especially to red stele and leaf spot. You don't need a pollinator as this one is self-pollinating. However, by growing other strawberry plants along with it you will generally have a bigger harvest.

The Strawberry Sparkle will spread at maturity to about 15 to 18 inches and is hardy from zone 4 to zone 8. Strawberries require moist, well-drained soil and full sun. It is a June-bearing plant and will produce abundant fruit. If you are going to plant in a previous garden, you will not want to plant where peppers, tomatoes, eggplant or potatoes have been planted as they can harbor verticillium wilt which strawberries are susceptible to.

Northland Blueberries Have A Wild Berry Flavor!

patti-nhn — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:10:00 GMT

The Northland Blueberry Vaccinium 'Northland' produces a small dark blue fruit with excellent flavor that is on the wild side. It is the most cold hardy of the highbush variety of blueberries. It is cold hardy from zone 4 to zone 7. This Northland is a very ornamental bush as it has nice green foliage, bell shaped white flowers in the spring, blue berries that ripen in the summer, orange leaves in the fall and reddish stems in the winter. What more could you ask for in year-round interest? Plus you have the wonderful fruits to enjoy in so many ways, pies, jams, jellies, fruit smoothies and fruit salads just to name a few. They are also full of vitamins and bioflavanoids for healthy eating.

You should plant in soil that is organically rich, you can add organic matter to soil that isn't quite up to par. Blueberries need moist and well drained soil along with full sun. The Northland is self fertile so doesn't need a pollinator, however, having more than one plant will tend to increase the amount of the harvest. This plant will mature from 20 to 40 inches tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. It would make a good shrub border. You could save money as well by growing your own blueberries.

Blueray Blueberries Have An Outstanding Dessert Flavor!

patti-nhn — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:00:00 GMT

If you like desserts and you like blueberries, the Blueray Blueberry 'Vaccinium 'Blueray' is a great choice as it is one of the most flavorful and high quality of the varieties out there. If you are familiar with the Bluecrop Blueberry, this variety is a bit sweeter. The fruit is deep blue and about a half inch across. It is also a heavy producer. Blueberries are self-pollinating but crops tend to bigger when you plant more than one.

The Blueray will grow from 5 to 6 feet in height and spread to about 4 feet wide. It does prefer moist, well-drained soil and full sun. It's spring flower color is white. The foliage in fall ranges from yellow to red. This is hard down to zone 4 and up to zone 7. Blueberries are very healthy and are packed with bioflavanoids as well as vitamins. You will love these in desserts, pies, jams and syrups. You will want to watch the birds, they love the blueberries as well. There is netting that can be purchased to help keep the birds from eating your harvest. Growing your own blueberries will save you lots of money and is a lot of fun too!