Vaccinium Pinkberry® + ODRŮDY pink blueberry

Pink blueberries, now commonly called Pinkberry® are a modern attraction of early 2000's. The first plant was achieved by American breeder Mark Ehlenfeldt from Agricultural Research Service (ARS), who in 1991 crossed rabbiteye blueberry whose immature fruit is pink, and usual highbush blueberry with blue fruit. The result was introduced in 2005 and named 2 years after as Pink Lemonade®. It was a huge success and the plants soon found their way to Europe where they are produced under license, and more varieties are being bred.

The fruit is very sweet, juicy, and lack the typical wild blueberry acidity. The bush is more upright and somewhat leggy, its twigs grow faster and do not form a very ornamental habit. Leaves are rather pointed, narrowly elliptic, mid green, turning orange and scarlet red in autumn. Pinkberry® is described as self-fertile, however, high yield and much better fruit quality was gained only with another Pinkberry® or rabbitberry variety nearby.

VARIETIES

Pink Lemonade® (syn. Pink Sapphire™) – mid season, historically the very first bred and described variety of blueberries with pink fruit, made by Mark Ehlenfeldt from USA. Fruit is rich fuchsia pink, mid-sized, very sweet, and mature in August.

Moreberry® – mid season, it is not truly a variety but a good trick by a Swiss breeding company Lubera®, these are two varieties planted in one pot, which benefit from each other as they are perfect pollination partners - Pink Lemonade® with pink fruit from early August, and Blue Buddy® with blue fruit from late August.

Pink Berry – this unpatented variety is a European, possibly German mutation of Pink Lemonade®, using a common name Pinkberry® as a variety rather than a type, fruit is identical to Pink Lemonade®.

CULTIVATION

Pinkberry® is as fussy about growing conditions as any highbush blueberry. It needs a location in full sun (unlike forest blueberries), and constantly moist, acid soil (ph 3,5-4) rich in organic matter. Some growers even suggest wet soil but we have not tested this. It benefits from annual fertilizing in early spring. Pruning is not necessary but can be done to rejuvenate older plants. Do this after harvest. Fruiting begins later than on highbush blueberries, usually on 4-5 year-old plants. Hardiness is still a subject of testing. Plants were originally released for USDA zone 7, but now (in 2016) are rated hardy to about -24°C (USDA zone 6), and some sources say they might also withstand USDA zone 4 (-34°C) which seems unlikely knowing that one of the parents (rabbiteye blueberry) is hardy to zone 7 only but further tests will show.

Last update 11-01-2017