Thimbleberry vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Thimbleberry vs Bilberry

Rubus parviflorus

Vaccinium myrtillus

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Thimbleberry
Bilberry

Thimbleberry is an ornamental shrub with large, green maple-like-leaves. Flowers are attractive, fragrant, and turn into red-raspberry-like berries. The berries are good for jams, cakes, breads, muffins etc. If you remove the berry, the core resembles a thimble, giving this shrub its namesake.

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.

Thimbleberry Quick Facts

Bilberry Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: any
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: fast
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
Foliage: Soft leaves up to 8 inches across
Flowers: white, showy
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: summer
Berries: edible, red, similar to raspberries
Berries: round bluish-purple berries, edible
Flavor: sweet
Harvest: late summer to early fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, ON
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: thimbleberry, western thimbleberry
Other Names: common bilberry, dwarf bilberry, low bilberry, myrtille, myrtle blueberry, myrtle whortleberry, whortleberry