Montreal Blues Grape
Montreal Blues Grape
Species: Vitis sp. (hybrid)
History: Montreal Blues is one of the many varieties created by renowned grape breeder Elmer Swenson in Osceola, Wisconsin, as part of his effort to breed cold hardy grapes suitable for growing in the colder climates of North America. This variety was released in 1998 and in some areas is also known as St. Theresa, named for Saint Therese of Lisieux who was a French nun who planted flowers to show her love of God.
Why We Grow It: This variety produces large clusters of blue, Concord-like grapes with a nice, mild sweet flavour. They are quite cold hardy and can be made into pies, jams, or juice!
Fruit Specs
Fruit Specs
Recommended Use: Fresh eating, juice, jam, baking
Grape Size: Medium-large
Grape Colour: Blue
Seeded or Seedless: Seedless
Storage: Keeps up to two weeks when stored in the fridge
Harvest: September - Late
Growing Specs
Growing Specs
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4b
Soil Preference: Loam is best, but is tolerant of different soils as long as they are well-drained.
Bloom Colour: Green
Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a different grape variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present.
Sun/Shade Requirements:
Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)
General Growth Habits:
Vigorous and cold hardy
Shipping vs. Pick Up
Shipping vs. Pick Up
CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.
Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.
Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.
Size at Purchase
Size at Purchase
Grapes are divided into the following grades:
- 1 year plant - pruned to ~20cm, well-rooted
- 2 year plant - pruned to ~30cm, extensive root system
There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.
Unless specified, heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).
Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.