Always give it a chance. Overwatered my blueberry very badly last year. It lost all its leaves and died back to a single stubby cane. It has leafed out nicely and is putting out new growth. Give it time, try to correct what ever was wrong.

I did completely kill another one a few years ago, but that was a pH problem - didn't research / believe that a pH imbalance would kill the bush. My only excuse was I was very inexperienced at that time. I do a lot more research now.

I don't think it's an overwatering issue with mine. The leaf drop occurred in late Fall/early winter when the temps got below freezing in my Z5 garden. I tried to amend the soil to make it acidic too, as it is in a built in container. Although I haven't had a soil test to officially confirm the PH. I suspect the unusual winter weather we had (60+ degrees in Feb followed by bitter cold and very little snow cover) killed it. Will hold out hope though for at least a little bit longer!

Best of luck. Maintaining pH, even in a raised bed, is tough as the elements will tend to leach out of the soil. If you have a pH incompatibility, I personally think it is best to put it in a pot.

I did try your suggestion and first scratched the bark in a few spots, and then snapped a few branches. Unfortunately not even the smallest amount of green. Since this is in a feature container right on my patio (built in to the retaining wall), I took this out to put in a replacement. I have failed twice now with blueberries in this spot (different varieties) - 1 made it through 1 winter, this one didn't even do that. I think its time for something different!

Yeah, you might want to try something else then. Blueberries are either really easy or really difficult to grow. PH is always the biggest problem.

Usually if its red that means its coming back and will turn green in strips or mottled.

If it had been black or ash gray especially tips, then that part was dead. I've grown blueberries for 5 years in pots out in cold and snow on cement patio no covering. They are very slow to turn sometimes when they come out of hibernation. From brown stems that on another plant would look dead, they turn red and can even flower before finishing the change to green. I had some red branches with pinkish blue flowers this year before branch became green and flowers white. I now have bushes covered with massive clusters of plump berries that will take sometimes up to 2 months to ripen.

Hope you didn't throw away yet, still a chance to put in a pot on the side? 14in size is fine for it.

I had a small blueberry bush (Top Hat cultivar) that did something similar. We took it out of the pot it was using and put it into the ground, but it didn't make it. We think it was most likely because of particularly cold winter and being in a pot (less thermal protection for its roots); the blueberries that were in the ground all did just fine. We also had a bush (Bluegold cultivar) that didn't do well its first year and unfortunately encountered some local fauna part way through its second year, reducing to nearly nothing (we almost replaced it), but it has since recovered, and while small, it is now doing well. So even if you lost large portions of the canes and leaves, give it a second chance before declaring it a total loss.