Patriot is a cold-hardy, high bush blueberry that grows to be 4′ to 6′ tall. Fruits ripen early July and continue on for several weeks. Bushes, when fully mature can produce up to 10-20 lbs of fruit per bush.
The fruit size is large but has a tendency to get smaller as the season progresses. Berries are firm and have only a small picking scar.
Patriot is a cross between LB1, Dixi, Weymouth, and Stanley. LB1 is a newer cultivar. But Dixi, Weymouth, and Stanley have some history. All three are cultivars released by Frederick Coville. Stanley in 1930, and Dixi and Weymouth in 1936. They are all either crosses of wild blueberry bushes or crosses of cultivars one step from a wild blueberry bush. So there’s lots of wild blueberry in Patriot. It’s not really an heirloom per se, though, compared to some of the others we have marked as heirlooms, as it was released in 1973.
Interestingly, Dixi was named by Coville because it means “finished”. It was the last cultivar he produced before his retirement. Though cultivars he made prior to Dixi went on to be released afterward.
Both Dixi and LB1 are lowbush blueberries and Weymouth and Stanley are highbush blueberries, which is why Patriot is a bit on the shorter end of the highbush varieties. But the reason for the cross is that lowbush blueberry plants are extraordinarily cold-hardy, whereas highbush blueberries are larger. Hence, a cold-hardy bush with large size berries.
Bush is very ornamental.
Ripens early July.
