Bonus is a high bush blueberry which will grow to 5′ to 6′ tall. It ripens around the beginning of August, having good yields of bright blue berries that hold their color long after picking.
Bonus is a natural genetic mutation of Elliott blueberry that was discovered in southwest Michigan. It was bred at the University of Michigan in 1978 to compete with the Chandler variety for large fruit size and high yields.
We selected Bonus for this sale due to its cold-tolerance and disease resistance.
For a little more history on Bonus. It is basically Elliott with a genetic mutation. Elliott has a rich heritage, as it is a hybrid created from Pioneer, Rubel, Jersey and Dixi. All of these were cultivars of Frederick Coville, meaning specifically that they have strong wild native American blueberry heritage.
Rubel is a wild blueberry. The specific plant that was used was discovered in 1912, though technically Rubel bushes had been growing in this country for centuries. Pioneer was Coville’s very first hybrid between two wild blueberry plants created in 1920. (Namely Sooy and Brooks, his pet names for those wild plants. Again these were wild native blueberries.) Jersey is a cross between two wild blueberry plants (Rupel and Grover) from 1916. Dixi is a cultivar that Coville created from his crosses prior to 1930 focused on larger berry production. This lineage would produce a blueberry bush with all the attributes of a wild blueberry bush but with larger berries. Clearly, that was the intent when Elliott was developed. Meaning Bonus has that same ancestry.
What that means for you is that Bonus likely has more of the natural antioxidants found in native blueberries than some cultivars that are far removed from the original. When trying to hybridize plants for specific traits, the nutritional value is sometimes changed, particularly when the cultivars are further from the lineage of the wild version.
Bonus is an attractive fresh market berry. It has a small picking scar but exceptional flavor. Fruit size is extra-large.
Bonus has good resistance to many blueberry fungal diseases.
Ripens around August 1.
