Description
Olympia is grown for flavor. The berries are medium sized and dark blue with a thin skin, soft rather than firm, and the eating quality is excellent and genuinely sweet. They resist cracking and they hang well on the bush rather than dropping when ripe.
Soft fruit is a liability in a commercial row and an advantage in a garden, where the berries go straight into a bowl. The plant is vigorous and spreading at about 5 to 6 ft, highly productive, and it puts on a genuine fall display of red-orange leaves over light red wood.
Overview
- Excellent sweet flavor on medium, thin-skinned, dark blue berries.
- Fruit hangs well and resists cracking.
- Vigorous, spreading and productive at about 5 to 6 ft.
- Light red wood and a red-orange fall display.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Vaccinium corymbosum ‘Olympia’
Site and Soil: Full sun; acidic, well drained soil, pH 4.5 to 5.5
Hardiness: Hardy to USDA Zone 4
Rootstock: Grown from cuttings or tissue culture
Bearing Age: Fruits right away; full production in 5 to 6 years
Size at Maturity: Vigorous and spreading, about 5 to 6 ft
Ripening Time: Mid season; July into August
Pollination: Self-fertile; a second blueberry variety improves size and yield
Additional Notes
- Grower’s Insight: Thin skin and soft flesh are why this one tastes so good and why it never became a shipping berry. Eat it close to the bush.
- Regional Insight: Blueberries crop best where winters are cold enough to meet their chill and the soil is naturally acid, which covers most of the country once the planting hole is prepared properly.
- Explore more berries in our collection: Berries
