Florida Hills Nursery ??

[Gina]

I've heard from more than one source that they are undependable in terms of getting the variety of blueberry they say they are selling. I know it seems insane, but I am tempted anyway.

They are selling a couple low chill varieties that I would like to try: Scintilla and Snowchaser. Both are reported to be 9s in terms of good taste in one of the UFlorida publications. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs1245 - scroll to bottom chart. Snowchaser apparently also can bloom in the fall, and since frost is rare here, that sounds like 'winter berries' to me.

And.. they don't exclude CA in the shipping exclusions....


Does Betty Ford Clinic have a blueberry wing?

[WillsC]

I would not trust that guy to send me a rock......

[fruitnut]

I bought Those two from FHN in the last yr. The Snowchaser has fruit and other new this winter. So I'll have some idea if they are true to variety in the next couple yrs. They do send nice plants at a reasonable price. If you can't get them anywhere else I say go for it. Wills can afford to be more selective than us the rest of us and I'm thankful for that. He's going to tell us if we got the real deal, I hope!!

[WillsC]

Steve,

I don't grow either one of those so I will have no idea

[Gina]

Thanks Fruitnut. I'm going to do it. Not too much to lose. I don't think I could stop myself anyway.

Wills? I'm going to ignore him, ...even though he's probably right.

[fruitnut]

Gina:

Not much to lose....I agree. You'll get something and in fact that's how I got my first Springhigh. Or at least I think they are Springhigh, great fruit, so at the worst I got some great blueberries that I'm not 100% sure of identity. It could be worse!!

[Blueboy1977]

The Scintilla and Snowchaser I got from them were true to type along with several others. Just don't get Sweetcrisp from them.

[Gina]

Well, I did it. Glad to hear you both had good experiences with them, mostly.

As for Sweetcrisps, they were out of those on their website. Not a surprise. If they were selling fakes, that variety is easy to tell both vegetatively as well as fruits.

edit: I notice they are $1 per plant less on ebay than at their own site. Shipping is reasonable at both places, but on ebay you can leave feedback.

[Claymango]

Hey everyone, Claymango from the Tropical fruit forum, starting my Fig and Blueberry Fever now that I'm over my Mango Malaria... I recently purchased 5 SweetCrisp, 5 Emerald, and 5 Jewel BB from SpringHillnursery... They all arrived well packaged and in good health; there was some leaf drop after shipping to CA, however, all are budding out new growth as we speak after 1 week of partial sun/ full shade under my patio which i give all freshly recieved plant shipments in order to recover from shipping.


So I see we have some negative feedback regarding the named varieties...that's never good. I must say mistakes in shipping happen no matter what the retailer, online nursery, wholesale grower, you name it; we're all human. Hopefully I got the real deal holyfield Sweetcrisp as buddie Nullz on the Tropical Fruit Forum told me to get... Kind of dissapointed now on my 5 Jewel and Emerald selections after reading feedback here... i guess I'll be ordering 5 Springhigh from Florida Hills if they have it in stock, Also need to add 5 late season BB, I'm guessing the current selections I have are early and Mid season?

[Gina]

My Scintilla and Snowchaser just shipped. Should be here in a few days.

Hi Claymango, welcome to the forum, ..and to the world of blueberry obsession. (Stay away from those fig people in the other part of the forum - they'll try to draw you in to their latex covered web. )

When I first heard about low chill bbs a number of years ago and was doing some research, Emerald and Jewel were the first two I really tried to find. And eventually I did get some. They have not disappointed. Emerald is still one of my favorites. It is usually first to bear, the fruits are large, prolific, firm and have a pleasing but subtle flavor. The only berry I prefer to it is Sweetcrisp. And maybe a good Southmoon.

Jewel is a workhorse and tends to bear in a concentrated time-frame. The fruits are less sweet and softer than Emerald. But it's worth growing. I don't like them fresh as much, but if you cook with your berries, or give any away, it is a good candidate. When I've given them to friends, some have remarked that they were the best berries they've ever had. (maybe they just wanted more, lol) They are also easy to pick.

If you want a later season berry, do some reading on Southmoon. It's an older variety and I think it's underrated. It's also one of my favorites. It has upright branches and tends to not be as vigorous as some of the others, but it's good to my taste buds, the berries are med/large, easy to pick, and the fruits are very pretty. You can probably also get it locally. I got mine a number of years ago at our local Home Depot, and I've also seen it at one of the local higher end nurseries.

[Gina]

My Scintilla and Snowchaser just arrived. Ordered on the 17th, arrived the 21th. From FL to CA. Nicely packed and in good shape.

The little plants have nice stems, some fresh foliage on 5 of the six, and the 6th has a healthy looking double stem. I just put them out into the shade for a little photosynthetic snack.

Now to grow them up and see what varieties they actually are.

[Claymango]

My 6 Snowchasers came in, definately can see the month growths difference between this order and last months order, as these have a nice edge on my first shipment.....Plants don't even look to be in shock....I'll still shade them for a week at least.

[Gina]

My Scintilla and Snowchaser just arrived. Ordered on the 17th, arrived the 21th. From FL to CA. Nicely packed and in good shape.

The little plants have nice stems, some fresh foliage on 5 of the six, and the 6th has a healthy looking double stem. I just put them out into the shade for a little photosynthetic snack.

9 days later and the little plants are doing well. Leaves all greened-up and more robust. I'd been putting them out in the sun for a couple hours the past few days, and today they were able to be out side in the full sun through the middle of the day without wilting.

The leaves of the two varieties are distinct, with Scintilla having noticeably narrower and fewer leaves.

[Gina]

My Scintilla and Snowchaser just arrived. Ordered on the 17th, arrived the 21th. From FL to CA. Nicely packed and in good shape.

The little plants have nice stems, some fresh foliage on 5 of the six, and the 6th has a healthy looking double stem. I just put them out into the shade for a little photosynthetic snack.

Now to grow them up and see what varieties they actually are.

About 5 months later, I'm very pleased to say the 6 plants (3 SnowChaser, 3 Scintilla) from FHN are doing very well. The snowchasers are extremely vigorous and even had a few stray blooms on one of the plants. Tasted a first lone berry today.... and it was extremely good! Now of course I want more of those, lol.

The Scintillas are doing well too, but don't have the high vigor of the SnowChasers, and no stray flowers. All 6 will be up-potted into 15 gallon pots after it cools a bit.