“Paul McLane gave the L.E. Cooke Co a grapevine he grew from his grandmother’s seedling in Chico, California . . .”
I’m a sucker for a vegetable or fruit variety with a background story. With Blueberry grapes, both the variety and my own vines come with stories.
To continue about the variety: McLane’s grapevine that came from his grandmother “produced a seedless Concord-like grape with a unique blueberry flavor. Thus it was named Blueberry Grape.” So wrote the late owner of L.E. Cooke, Robert Ludekens, in 2013.
Also in 2013, I received cuttings of Blueberry grape from a friend and stuck the cuttings straight into the dirt below my chainlink fence, where they rooted and grew into vines that continue happily today, ten years later.
The Blueberry grape
Blueberry grapes have always been one of our kids’ favorite varieties among the handful that we grow.
They are small to medium sized and perfectly spherical.
Inside their purple skin they usually don’t even have a trace of a seed.
They are always firm and never mushy, but they are never crunchy firm like some varieties.
They can be picked in August, but if left to ripen into September their color darkens and their flavor gets richer and more intense. The flavor is always more complex compared to a simply sweet variety like Flame.
Do they really taste like blueberries?
Last week, I picked some late blueberries from our bushes, ate them, and then ate some Blueberry grapes.
No, not to me. The blueberries tasted like blueberries and the Blueberry grapes tasted like grapes. They Blueberry grapes just look a lot like blueberries, for a grape.
The Blueberry grapevine
My Blueberry grapevines grow vigorously and fruit prolifically. The leaves are less lobed than some other grape varieties.
I have always spur pruned my Blueberry grapevines, back to two or three buds per spur, and this has resulted in good grape production.
It started with Robin
I had been growing my Blueberry grapevines for a few years when I became curious to learn more about the variety. A web search took me to an L.E. Cooke webpage that included a testimonial letter about the variety from a grower down in San Diego:
“We really adore this grape. Its taste and texture so closely resemble a blueberry, one almost can forget it really is a grape . . . It is sweet but rich, with a surprising burst of blueberry flavor and bite, and never mushy . . . In addition to its excellent taste, the big leaves are extremely ornamental, turning bright red in winter, and lingering on the vine through December in our region.”
Then it was signed by Robin Rivet.
Wait, I know Robin.
The next time I saw her I mentioned running into her testimonial letter. “I grow some Blueberry grapevines and like them too,” I told her. “I grew them from cuttings I got from Frank.”
“Frank started his vines from cuttings he got from me!” she said.
It’s wild how plants make their way around.
Where to get a Blueberry grapevine?
If you’re interested in tasting this variety, I have no idea where to send you. I know of no farmers growing this variety. But if you’re interested in growing a Blueberry grapevine, I have two ideas.
Ask your local nursery to order a plant from Dave Wilson Nursery. Sadly, L.E. Cooke closed its nursery business a few years ago, but Dave Wilson might be propagating Blueberry grape plants now as they took over some of the unique varieties once grown by L.E. Cooke.
(Read more about L.E. Cooke and its closing here and here.)
Or join a local chapter of California Rare Fruit Growers and seek a cutting of Blueberry at this winter’s scion exchange. Lots of CRFG members have this variety. I will make cuttings of my own Blueberry grapevines available at the scion exchange of the North County San Diego chapter in January.
I’ve seen Blueberry grape plants being sold online, but I don’t know how trustworthy these sources are or whether they’re selling the real Blueberry variety profiled here.
More posts on grapes:
Growing grapes on a chainlink fence
Grapevine on eave to shade house
Propagating grapes with cuttings
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I believe this is a variety that you’re reasonably likely to find in nurseries. I bought mine last year at Plant House nursery in El Cajon. If anyone near Lakeside is looking for cuttings, I typically prune mine several times throughout the summer to keep them off the ground. The greenwood cuttings seem to root best if you leave them in a pitcher of water for two days before planting. I think it makes them less likely to dry out.
Thanks, Jessica. I’m glad to learn that the variety is more widely available than I thought.
Appreciate this post! I have a young blueberry grape I kept in a medium pot, but will need to transplant. I’d like to plant it in a large, deep patio container because I’ve run out of room in my small city backyard lot. Any experience with this? Or would in ground along a fence be better even in a shaded location? Those are my two options.
Hi Jamaye,
I’m sure you can grow your grapevine in a container that is large enough; I just don’t know how large is large enough. I’ve never done that or seen it done. I do know that grapevines have extensive root systems when planted in the ground. I’ve found roots from my vines more than ten feet from the trunks.
Grapes do grow well in shade. You can see that with the wild grapes in many canyons throughout Southern California. I have a couple grapes in only half-day sun and they grow very well, but they don’t make quite as much fruit as those in full sun. That’s the main trade off.
Just had some of these from a local grower!! Wow! They are awesome!! Do you sell starts?
What a treasure post!! Serious seeking starts/scions for this plant. Left my only blueberry grapevine in my last garden and now hunting for one to plant in my current one. Even tried to sprout seeds from the raisins I dried from the fruit but nothing was viable. Moved from Arizona Sunset zone 12 north to zone 3 and hoping it would do well in my mountain forest property.
Hi Greg,
Happy Saturday!
I finally (!!!) got some cuttings of Blueberry grape today at the OC CRFG Great Scion Exchange. Looking forward to trying this out if the cuttings take 🙂
I was wondering – is now – in the rain/cold – a good time to just stick the cuttings into the ground? Or would you recommend keeping them in the fridge and planting later? Or should I try to have them root in a small container?
Also – in your experience – how long does it take for a cutting (if it roots) to actually produce grapes? Am I looking at a few years here?
Thank you as always for your advice and insights.
I also have 2 more grape plants (from the nursery) waiting to be planted. Hoping for grapes this year or next!
-MB
Hi MB,
Congrats on the Blueberry cuttings! I’m going to bring some to my North San Diego County CRFG scion exchange next weekend.
Yes, now is a fine time to stick them in the ground, but you could also keep them in plastic bags in the fridge for a couple weeks. I’ve had success both ways.
I normally root them in the dirt, but this year I’m going to root some in one-gallon containers because they will be gifts. For these in containers, I’m going to keep them in partial shade/dappled sun, not full sun, until they’ve grown many leaves.
Here’s a post on rooting grapes: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/propagating-grapes/
I think you might get grapes from the vines you root this year in summer 2025 at the earliest, but probably not until summer 2026.
Thank you Greg! Great advice as always. I’ll put them into the ground soon and go from there. Fingers crossed I get at least one to root!
I also snagged Suffolk Red and Einsett cuttings so we will see what roots.
-MB