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cousinfloyd

rabbiteye taste test results

cousinfloyd
10 years ago

My family did an organized "blind" taste test of blueberries this year on July 30 with most of the varieties that we had ripe at the time, 12 of which we know the varietal names. The two that we've always thought of as our favorites for taste, Yadkin and Brightwell, did indeed score top marks. We were a little surprised that Premier scored about as high for us. Those were the top three. Onslow was overall pretty much our least favorite. Montgomery and Garden Blue didn't score especially high either. Several varieties were very nice, good-but-not-outstanding: Powder Blue, Ira, Delite, Bonita, Tifblue, Centurion. Powder Blue has also stood out as a heavy producer. Bonita probably scored the highest in flavor this time around of the varieties with the best potential for extending the length of our season (except Brightwell is continuing to fruit pretty long this year -- not so much last year -- and is a notch above in taste.) I expect that in a different year or at a different time during the season we would have gotten slightly different results, but those are our results for this year.

Comments (9)

  • Ernie
    10 years ago

    Is Centurion still producing for you? I have some small plants that I'm growing out, and I'd hoped that they would extend my season beyond Tifblue, Bluebelle, and Brightwell, which I think will wrap up production in the next week or so.

  • cousinfloyd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have 2 Centurion bushes. One is basically completely done. One still holds a good bit of late season promise. Overall the bushes that seem to hold the most late season promise this year are Bonita and Onslow, with Ira a close third. Montgomery is definitely still going. Powder blue has slowed down a lot but is still coming. None of my Brightwell bushes is completely done, and a couple have some pretty good pickings left to come. I'd say about the same for Tifblue. Garden Blue is nearly done. Varieties that are completely done are Premier, Yadkin, Bluebelle, Climax, Delite, and Woodard.

    Last year I made note of 6 varieties that were still fruiting as of July 30 -- the season came to an end earlier last year -- and they were Bonita, Centurion, Delite, Garden Blue, Ira, and Onslow. All the others were done by that time last year.

  • cousinfloyd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    It might be good to add that my earliest rabbiteyes, the ones that started ripening first this year (about June 27) were Climax, Premier, Bluebelle, and Woodard.

  • blueboy1977
    10 years ago

    Thanks for that report. I've only got 2 Rabbiteyes left now. I was getting cramped for space in my little back hard and something had to go. Got rid of Beckyblue and Woodard. I was not impressed with these two varieties the first 2 seasons they fruited. This past spring was a different story. Both had much better flavor and I hated to get rid of them. I guess Rabbiteyes get better as they mature alittle more. Anyone else have this experience with them?

  • cousinfloyd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I just thought I'd report that Onslow definitely won the endurance test this year, i.e. it produced the longest. It's definitely well past peak production, but it's the only variety still going for me this year.

  • cousinfloyd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    In case fall color matters to anyone, this is the second year I've paid attention to differences in color, and Bonita is again the most outstanding ornamental with respect to fall color. Bonita was also probably the tastiest of the fairly late varieties, although like I said before, none of my varieties gave me close to the season length that Onslow did. I would plant more of both those varieties, Bonita and Onslow, if I were starting over again, and I'll probably wind up planting additional bushes of them now.

  • shane11
    10 years ago

    This is great information. Thanks for posting this.

  • Bradybb WA-Zone8
    10 years ago

    cousinfloyd,
    Is Columbus in your collection?It's suppose to "among the best" in overall quality according to some sources.
    I bought one and a Yadkin from Edible Landscaping last year.They both produced a little fruit this Summer,which I liked,but will know more about them next year. Brady

  • cousinfloyd
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    No, not yet, but it's one I want to add along with Lenoir (plus Reka in order to have berries before the rabbiteyes come in.)