Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Sweetheart’ – Highbush Blueberry

This 2010 introduction from the USDA is the only blueberry we offer that has southern Rabbit-eye Blueberry (V. virgatum) in its parentage. In fact, it’s ancestry has quite a few blueberry species in addition to Rabbit-eye including Northern Highbush (V. corymbosum) and Lowbush (V. angustifolium) – northern species, along with Small Black (V. tenellum) and Darrow’s (V. darrowii) – southern species. Despite all of its southern genes, ‘Sweetheart’ performs well in our area, having been selected in New Jersey – even so, it’s probably a risky choice for higher elevations in the Catskills. Ripens early, along with ‘Duke,’ is a little more productive than ‘Duke’ with a medium/large berry that has superior flavor. In some years ‘Sweetheart’ produces a small Fall crop of berries.