Some of our northern highbush blueberries have odd looking stems this spring. It was a tough winter, and there was some die-back at the tips. I am guessing that the stems are suffering from the combined effect of too cold for too long, and possibly dryness. Wisconsin is full of evergreen trees and shrubs that have brown patches this spring. We think that most of them will recover, eventually, but right now, they don't look so good.

The leaves look good, I wouldn't worry about it. Some of wood on your plant looks a bit old though, you may want to think about slowly taking some of the older canes out to promote new growth.

Thanks. I was worried it was blueberry stem canker like in the picture on the page linked below. This particular plant is not doing well and has maybe 70% dead branches this spring and I've left the pH get too high in this bed. (6.1 last fall, 5 other plants in same soil). And I've neglected the pruning with some of these plants and they had very little growth last year. Soil test said there was enough nutrients but just too high a pH and too much calcium.

Here is a link that might be useful: canker picture

Hi. I'm from Newfoundland on the south coast. I bought 10 blueberry bushes last year. 7 northland, 2 chippewas and 1 blue crop bush. I had them in 15 inch pots over last year but put them in small raised beds this year. They have outgrown the space and I need to move them again. I have a small backyard but I have a big front yard facing the road. The land is higher up with lots of sun, well draining sandy soil and lots of wind. It's northwest facing so extreme winds in the winter, from 120 up to 160 km. I'm wondering if my blueberry bushes can handle the wind without burning up the stalks. We don't get extreme cold here or a lot of snow. Usually snow then rain and lots of wind. Could someone advise me on this