Highbush Cranberry vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Highbush Cranberry vs Bilberry

Viburnum trilobum

Vaccinium myrtillus

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Highbush Cranberry
Bilberry

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.

American Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub known for its clusters of small black berries that ripen in mid-to-late summer. The berries are edible and have long been used for fresh eating, preserves, and baking. They provide food for birds and mammals, and their fragrant spring flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

American Black Currant’s foliage serves as a host plant for butterfly species such as the Green Comma and Gray Comma, and its dense branching offers cover for wildlife. The shrub has traditionally been planted in shelterbelts, riparian buffers, and restoration projects.

Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Bilberry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 4 m (13 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 2.7 m (9 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: low growing, clump-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - medium
Suckering: none


Toxicity: leaves may be unsafe in high doses
Flowers: white clusters
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: summer
Berries: edible red berries
Berries: round bluish-purple berries, edible
Flavor: sweet
Harvest: late summer to early fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no

In row spacing: 0.6 m (2.0 ft)

Between row spacing: 5 m (16 ft)
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, PE
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: american cranberrybush, american cranberrybush viburnum, high bush cranberry, kalyna
Other Names: common bilberry, dwarf bilberry, low bilberry, myrtille, myrtle blueberry, myrtle whortleberry, whortleberry