Highbush Cranberry vs Illini Hardy Blackberry - TreeTime.ca

Highbush Cranberry vs Illini Hardy Blackberry

Viburnum trilobum

Rubus fruticosus Illini Hardy

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Highbush Cranberry
Illini Hardy Blackberry

Highbush Cranberry produces attractive white flowers in late June and bears edible fruit that matures to a bright red colour in the late summer.

This shrub, native to much of Canada, is fast growing, and its fruit can be eaten raw or cooked into a sauce.

The Illini Hardy Blackberry was developed in Illinois for northern growers, and produces a large, juicy blackberry with medium-sweet flavor. The berries are ready for harvest in midsummer, and go great in preserves.

The Illini Hardy Blackberry, or the Illinois Blackberry, are floricanes, primarily fruiting on second year canes. Each spring cut back all two-year old canes, leaving only the last year’s growth. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn’t require a second plant nearby to set fruit.

Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Illini Hardy Blackberry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 4 m (13 ft)
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 2.7 m (9 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Suckering: none
Suckering: high
Maintenance: medium


Flowers: white clusters
Berries: edible red berries
Berries: black
Flavor: medium
Harvest: July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no

In row spacing: 0.6 m (2.0 ft)

Between row spacing: 5 m (16 ft)
Other Names: american cranberrybush, american cranberrybush viburnum, high bush cranberry, kalyna
Other Names: illinois blackberry