BACKYARD BERRIES
To be a backyard berry farmer is so easy and so rewarding. We are crazy for berries and growing them couldn’t be easier. As long as they have well drained soil and sunshine, you'll have plenty of berries for your shortcakes this summer. We polled our berry experts and here’s their top picks for Hampton Roads gardens.
Raspberries
Brazelberry Raspberry Shortcake. This new dwarf, thorn-less red raspberry has an endearing, rounded compact growth habit and is perfectly suited to large patio containers. It will nicely fill out no matter what the shape and requires no staking! Self fertile, yielding full-sized, nutritious and super sweet berries in mid-summer.
Blueberries
Sunshine. A semi-dwarf evergreen blueberry it features showy hot pink flowers that fade to white in spring. Yielding medium, rich sweet flavored berries this blueberry is self – pollinizing.
Rabbiteye. These easy to grow, delicious fruits are especially tolerant of the heat and drought of the South. You will need to plant more than one variety for cross-pollination.
Bountiful Blue Blueberry. With large, sweet, juicy berries this award winning selection has the bluest foliage of any blueberry. It is self fertilizer, but a pollenizer such as 'Sunshine Blue' will yield a more prolific harvest. With a rounded growth habit it is perfect for massing in the landscape or featuring in large containers.
Strawberries
We recommend Chandler and Berry Galore Rose.
Chandler. These berries are brilliant red, very large, and produce early-season to mid-season fruit. With an exceptional flavor profile, they grow well in Hampton Roads and a great backyard berry.
Berry Galore Rose. This ever-bearing plant produces deep red, sweet berries. This unique plant bears fruit but also offers ornamental rose colored blooms with dark green glossy foliage. Performs well in containers, hanging baskets, or in the ground.
Blackberries
Triple Crown. This trailing blackberry ripens for about one month from July thru August. Fruits ripen to a juicy sweet flavor with large, flavorful fruit. This semi-erect vine is thorn less and will bear huge fruit yields year after year.
Don't miss this weekend the Pungo Strawberry Fest. This berry-rific event celebrates the perfect harvest time for strawberries in Hampton Roads.