Bushel and Berry® Jelly Bean Blueberry

We all love blueberries, but they can be demanding bushes to grow at home – or at least they used to be. The Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush is something else entirely. This easy dwarf shrub can be grown like an edging plant, or in pots on a terrace or balcony, and you can pick your own blueberries in summer without making a farm out of your garden. Combining the best of eating and ornament, a bush in mid-summer is a joy to see, with its bunches of berries clustered among the oval glossy leaves. This is not some ungainly commercial berry bush, but an attractive garden plant that also delivers sweet, delicious berries in mid-summer, when you will enjoy them the most.

Growing the Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean

Size and Appearance

The Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush is a neat, compact, rounded shrub, growing just 1 or 2 feet tall and wide. It fits into any space in your garden, and into planters too. It is dense and bushy, and the leaves have a unique look, with longer pointed tips than ordinary blueberry plants. Those leaves are glossy and rich green, and new ones have a beautiful reddish coloring, especially when you grow it in colder zones. The leaves are over 1½ inches long, with a smooth surface, and they make an exceptionally attractive ornamental bush. In fall the leaves turn vibrant shades of yellow, saffron and brick-red, making a great display.

From the end of March all the way through May the branches are packed with clusters of snow-white flowers. These are like small upside-down urns, and they are in clusters of 6 to 8, packed along the branches. A bush in bloom is a charming sight. By late July those flowers will have become clusters of berries, crowding the bush with promise. They began green, but by now they are deep blue, with that characteristic dusty white coating that the best blueberries always have. The berries are large, over ½ inch across, and a single bush produces a full half-a-pound of berries. They are sweet, with just the right edge of tartness, and a smooth texture that really melts in your mouth – just like those rare blue jelly beans that this bush is named after. If you don’t use all your harvest on cereal or in pancakes and muffins, pop them straight into a freezer-box and store them for months – you don’t even need to thaw them out before using them in baking.

Using the Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean in Your Garden

The Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush can be grown in your garden if you have suitable acidic soil. Its compact size makes it perfect for edging a pathway, or for grouping in the front of your shrub beds. Pop them in anywhere you have a small space available – they will add beauty and color anywhere. If you don’t have the right soil, it’s no problem, because this variety is exactly the right size to grow in planters or pots. Place them by the door for easy harvesting, or out on your patio, terrace or balcony – heck, now you don’t even need a garden to enjoy your own blueberries.

Hardiness

The Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush is hardy from zone 3 to zone 8, and it is ideal for gardeners in colder zones. In planters and pots it is hardy to zone 4. For a good crop of berries it is best not to grow it past zone 5, as It needs a sufficient period (1,000 to 1,200 hours) of winter temperatures below 45 degrees to develop its flower buds. Check out some of our other Bushel & Berry® blueberry varieties to find one ideal for warmer zones.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

A position in full-sun is best for the Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush, but it will take some partial shade. The soil should be rich and moist, and it should be acidic, with a pH value of 5.5 or lower. If you don’t have suitable soil, its small size makes it perfect for planters or pots. Use potting soil blended for acid-loving plants like azaleas, and add a little shredded pine bark, using more as a mulch over the top of your pots.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Jelly Bean Blueberry Bush will benefit from some shrub fertilizer for acid-loving plants in early spring and early summer, especially if you are growing them in pots. Water regularly, as soon as the top of the pot starts to look just a little dry, as these plants are not resistant to dryness. They don’t need any special pruning, pests and diseases rarely cause problems, and once you have the soil right, they are very easy to grow.

History and Origin of the Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean

The Jelly Bean Bush is a hybrid blueberry, created in a special breeding program. It combines two blueberry bushes, Vaccinium corymbosum, the northern highbush blueberry, and the wild lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium. David Brazelton and Adam Wagner are breeders with Fall Creek Farm and Nursery, Inc., of Lowell Oregon, who create commercial blueberry crops. They crossed two existing varieties, `Tophat` and `Polaris`, and in 2006 they selected one that they called ‘ZF06-179’. This was patented in 2014 and given the appropriate garden name of Jelly Bean. Star® Roses and Plants have made it a center-piece plant in their new Bushel & Berry® range of berry bushes, created to bring easy fruit growing to home gardens with bushes of high ornamental value.

Buying the Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean at The Tree Center

We love this cute little shrub that delivers delicious berries right to your door, and so will you. At last it is easy to grow your own blueberries, even if you don’t have a garden at all, or if your space and time is limited. It’s easy to become a berry grower – just plant the Bushel & Berry® Jelly Bean Blueberry. Order now while our stocks last.