My homegrown blueberry plants are the absolute best. I’ve experimented with many varieties of blueberries.
You see, I wanted the best in my garden, not just because they are such pretty plants but also because I compete in my local best blueberry pie contest every summer and I had my eye on the prize.
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The Best Blueberry Plant Variety
Through my blueberry gardening experiments, I’ve learned that bluecrop, Biloxi, blueray, legacy, Brightwell, pink popcorn, pink icing, sunshine blue, top hat, powder blue, and O’Neal are the best blueberry plant varieties.
The Top 11 Blueberry Plant Varieties
Here is a list of the 11 best blueberry cultivars:
Bluecrop
As a popular variety of blueberry plants, the bluecrop is a northern highbush variety that is suitable for USDA plant zones 4-7.
The berries are large and firm. They are slightly aromatic and taste yummy.
Biloxi
Suited for USDA plant hardiness zones 8-10, the Biloxi is a southern highbush blueberry plant that’s ideal for no-chill or low-chill environments.
The Biloxi is known for its bushy growth habit and medium-sized berries that can be harvested early in the season.
The berry itself is light blue, firm and resistant to cracking. It also has a great flavor profile. The plant yields berries consistently throughout the season as it is a mid-season cultivar.
Blueray
Also ideal for growing in USDA zones 4-7, blueray blueberries produce light blue-colored berries that are sweet. The skin of the berries is crack-resistant and firm.
I’ve found that my bluerays stress a lot because they overproduce blueberries, so I need to prune the plants regularly.
This northern highbush cultivar ripens in mid-July, and I plant bluerays with other highbush blueberries as I want my plants to benefit from cross-pollination.
Legacy
I plant my legacy blueberries, which is a northern highbush variety and ideal for USDA zones 5-8, because of their excellent flavor profile.
The large berries are aromatic, firm, and sweet, and maybe best of all, they also store well.
Legacy blueberries also produce a high crop yield and I harvest mine late in mid-season.
Brightwell
Brightwell blueberries grow well in USDA hardiness zones 6-9. As a rabbiteye cultivar, the berries start out pink and then turn blue as they mature.
With an equal spread and large berries, my Brightwells produce a large crop yield that has a sweet flavor.
I’ve also found that the crop yields are larger if I plant other blueberry varieties for cross-pollination to occur.
Pink Popcorn
Pink popcorn blueberries grow best in USA hardiness zones 4-8. I have some of these plants in my garden, and I love seeing the pink berries, which is the color of the mature berries.
A mild flavor profile, these berries freeze well, so I always have blueberries for my blueberry pies (which I love to bake, eat, and savor all year round).
They are hardy plants and easy to care for, and these pink popcorns are self-pollinating and disease-resistant.
Pink Icing
Ideal for thriving in zones 5-10, I love my pink icing blueberries for both how pretty they are and their flavor.
In spring, the leaves are pink, dark green, and blue. In winter, they are a pretty turquoise shade.
As a dwarf northern highbush blueberry variety, the dark blue, almost black, berries taste like wild blueberries with their robustness in terms of flavor.
I harvest my pink icings in mid-season, and I know these plants are fast-growing and can live for 2 decades.
Sunshine Blue
The sunshine blue blueberries are generally more ornamental in nature with their pretty pink flowers in spring and blue-green leaves that turn burgundy in fall.
The berries are medium-sized and utterly delicious and sweet.
A dwarf southern highbush, I grow my sunshine blues in pots around my house as they are ideal for a small garden or outdoor spaces.
Powder Blue
Powder blue blueberries are a rabbiteye variety that is sweet in flavor. As suggested by its name, the berries are light blue.
The plant produces 50 berries in a cluster and a large crop yield, and I normally preserve these berries by canning them at the cannery near me.
I plant my powder blues, which grow well in USDA zones 6-9, with other blueberry cultivars for cross-pollination.
Top Hat
Usually grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 4-7, the top hat blueberries are petite plants, so I plant these together with my sunshine blue blueberries to benefit from cross-pollination.
I’ve seen other gardeners trim this plant into a decorative bonsai (so guess what’s my next craft project!).
Even though this is a dwarf blueberry plant variety, the berries it produces are full-sized, ideal for baking since it has a rich sweet and tart flavor.
O’Neal
O’Neal blueberries taste more like candy than traditional blueberries, and I usually eat mine as soon as I harvest them because they are so finger-licking yummy.
These berries are a southern highbush variety that grows well in USDA zones 7-9.
It is a self-pollinating blueberry plant that produces large, firm, and juicy berries.
Frequently Asked Questions about Best Blueberry Plant Variety
Which blueberry variety is the best?
There is quite a variety of blueberry plants that are the best. Here are the 21 top blueberries plants in terms of flavor: Legacy, Pink popcorn, Pink icing, Powder blue, Top hat, Sunshine blue, Blueray, Brightwell, Biloxi, Bluecrop, Lowbush blueberry, Evergreen blueberry, Hairy-fruited blueberry, Ivanhoe, Concord, Herbert, Elizabeth, Darrow, Wareham, Bluegold, and Pioneer.
What variety of blueberries is the sweetest?
The legacy berries are sweet blueberries that have a floral undertone. If you compared these to apples, they would be akin to the golden delicious apple variety.
What is the easiest blueberry to grow?
The Jersey blueberry plant is a Northern Highbush blueberry type and is the easiest to grow. It is a reliable plant that likes full sun and grows well in USDA plant hardiness zones 4-7. The Jersey blueberry produces lots of rich and super sweet blueberries at 7-10 pounds per yield.
The Best Blueberry
The best blueberry plant variety may not be the same one to you as it is for me. After all, the best anything depends on various factors.
With the best blueberries, these aspects are the USDA plant hardiness zones that are ideal for a certain type of blueberry to thrive, the flavor and size profile you prefer, and how pretty the plant is (if you care about such things).
In general, the following are the best blueberry plants: O’Neal, top hat, legacy, powder blue, sunshine blue, pink popcorn, pink icing, Brightwell, Biloxi, legacy, and blueray.
Which type of blueberry’s the best for you?
Daniel has been a plant enthusiast for over 20 years. He owns hundreds of houseplants and prepares for the chili growing seasons yearly with great anticipation. His favorite plants are plant species in the Araceae family, such as Monstera, Philodendron, and Anthurium. He also loves gardening and is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, and many more vegetables.