I live in zone 8b and am wondering if there are any varieties of lowbush blueberries that would do well here.

Welcome to Garden.org, @Erthwkr !

I don't believe the lowbush types will grow in the south, but you might try contacting your county extension service for more information about it.

But zone 8 also extends well up into the Pacific Northwest where blueberries grow very well. Please tell us your location (city, state, country) so we can better address your question? The other factors of your climate such as heat and humidity in summer will affect how they grow. The zone designation really only tells us how cold it gets on an average winter.

Better yet, enter it into your personal profile so that your location will appear in the upper right of all your posts.

dyzzypyxxy said:But zone 8 also extends well up into the Pacific Northwest where blueberries grow very well.

Very true, Elaine -- I tend to forget about the PNW being such a high zone! I do think, though, that the lowbush types need a certain amount of winter chilling to grow successfully and only grow in the lower zones. (There are other types for warmer climates, though )

Maybe this NGA article on blueberries will help:

http://garden.org/articles/art...

LOL -- so easy to forget to look right on our own site!

I will say... in my experience, blueberries are not all that easy. Several years ago I bought 5 "half-high" plants, figuring it would be a no-brainer because they grow wild all over the Upper Peninsula (where I live). Not so much... but I now have them in large pots, with a mix of peat, compost, potting soil and Perlite, with the addition of soil sulfur and greensand, and fertilizing with Miracid, and they are finally starting to come around .