When you see a USDA zone spread like that it is for the eastern states, where it gets too hot in the south for some northern plants to do well farther down than Zone 7. This does not pertain to us out here with our cool and dull summers.

Select multiple cultivars that have the fruit traits you want and assume they will pollinate one another adequately.

The early/mid/late season designation applies to harvest times......in our climate the flowering period for pretty much all blueberry cultivars overlaps sufficiently to provide adequate cross pollination, as noted above. And FWIW, all blueberry cultivars are quite high in antioxidents. If you really want to maximize antioxidents, grow an Aronia :-))

All I can say is I find it odd that Territorial would sell a plant that WASN'T good for zone 8. That's where most of the area is west of the Cascades. And that's where they market to. Odd is all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's gardening adventure

You can't maximize the antioxidants by growing aronia if you have deer....they never touch the blueberries but aronia is their absolute favorite.....;-) jwww

Good point!! I tend to overlook potential deer issues......my area is a bit too urban for them to be a problem. And I was surprised to learn from a friend living in the North Bed area what a nuisance elk were in her garden. For some reason, I associate elk more with the open plains type location than I do with suburban woodlands, ala eastern Washington or Yellowstone. Her concern is not so much with them eating the plants (although they do) but more with the huge beasts trampling things, even as close as her front porch plantings. They are apparently fearless!

The elk enclosure at the zoo looks pretty heavily impacted - of course it's not very big. I've read the claim online that WA was the elk capital of the world before they were killed off in pioneer times.

The elk herds were second only to the bison in number. Elk were shot in huge numbers, like the bison, until it became imperative to create refuges and place hunting restrictions to prevent extinction. President Theodore Roosevelt, the twenty-sixth president of the United States, created the Olympic National Park (1938) for the Roosevelt Elk. The Roosevelt Elk inhabit coniferous forest and high mountains of the West and can be seen around the timberline in the Olympics in early fall and spring.
The Roosevelt Elk has chosen to live in logged or burned areas near the western mountains which makes the damaged areas around the volcanoes an ideal habitat

Here is a link that might be useful: Roosevelt Elk

There are differences in antioxidant levels. I remember reading a journal article about it in an ASHS publication a few years back. I don't want to dig through my garage to find it now, but is one ISHS has done:

http://www.actahort.org/members/showpdf?booknrarnr=600_89

A few weeks ago I planted 3 varieties: Northcountry, Chippewa, and Top Hat. They're already getting buds. But I've read that you're supposed to remove all blooms the first year to help the plants get established. Can I wait until the flowers have actually blossomed or do I have to rip the buds off as soon as they appear? Clearly, if I can have the berries this year, I'd at least like to enjoy some flowers

It's just to get the plants to grow large more quickly, as modern productive cultivars tend not to make full vegetative growth on twigs that are bearing. So you would do it longer than the first year, until the bushes are fairly large - foregoing small amounts of fruit for some years so that you sooner have a bush with some size, producing large amounts of fruit.

I would leave the flowers and instead strip off any tiny green fruits that began to appear - being sure not to also remove new shoots by mistake.

Is anyone here growing Aurora? I am looking to add a late season blueberry.

I recently ran into these handy fruiting season charts:

http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/Commercial/BlueberryRipeningChart.htm

http://www.larsenfarmnursery.com/berries/blueberries/blueberry_main.htm

Fall Creek also has these variety charts that have been helpful to me:

http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/Commercial/VarietyChart/index.htm

http://www.fallcreeknursery.com/Nursery/VarietyChart/index.htm

I recently bought 2 Chandlers, 2 Bluerays, a Darrow, a Patriot, and an Earliblue to go along with the Toro and Bluecrops (I think) I already have. I am interested in getting an Aurora or Elliott to extend the season. Any other suggestions?

Brigitta is a good late variety. Burnt Ridge Nursery has some good descriptions of blueberries.
http://www.burntridgenursery.com/

I don't know where you live kam76 but here in one of the "burbs" of Vancouver there is a gentleman that grows blueberry shrubs and sells to the public. You can get a 6 foot Bluecrop or Duke for 35 or 40 bucks. I purchased a few 3 foot Legacy shrubs from him. I wanted the tasty fruit and the year round interest due to that it's semi-evergreen.

I have a small Rubel I planted about three years ago, it's doing about the same as the Brigetta and Bluegold I planted at the same time. All make a few berries and have grown about as fast as blueberries grow (slower than I'd realized when I bought them). I got mine from Raintree. I planted some cyclamen hederifolium under my Rubel, and they seem to get along beautifully.