Highbush Cranberry vs Grouseberry - TreeTime.ca

Highbush Cranberry vs Grouseberry

Viburnum trilobum

Vaccinium scoparium

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Highbush Cranberry
Grouseberry

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.

Grouseberry is a native, low-growing deciduous shrub known for its edible red berries. In early summer, it produces small, urn-shaped flowers ranging from white to pink that attract bees and other pollinators. The berries provide an important food source for many types of wildlife, including game birds such as grouse, which gives the plant its common name. People can also enjoy the berries fresh or in baked goods, though they can be difficult to harvest in large quantities.

Spreading by rhizomes, Grouseberry forms dense, broom-like mats that help stabilize soil and prevent erosion, while also providing cover for ground-nesting wildlife. It is commonly found beneath conifers in open forests, subalpine meadows, and occasionally on rocky slopes in mountainous regions. It is well-suited for naturalization, ecological restoration, and soil stabilization projects.

Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Grouseberry Quick Facts

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


Fall colour: reddish
Flowers: white clusters
Flowers: small pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: spring
Berries: edible red berries
Berries: small, bright red, edible
Flavor: tart
Harvest: summer
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: dwarf red whortleberry, grouse whortleberry, little-leaved huckleberry, red alpine blueberry, small-leaved huckleberry