Wild Strawberry vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Wild Strawberry vs Bilberry

Fragaria virginiana

Vaccinium myrtillus

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Wild Strawberry
Bilberry

Often called the Woodland Strawberry, the Wild Strawberry produces a sweet, edible red berry all throughout the later spring and summer. This compact, stemless plant spreads mostly through the means of runners, and grows quickly.

Flowers and fruit of the Wild Strawberry are usually present simultaneously throughout the summer. This variety is native to North America, which gives it its name.

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.

Wild Strawberry Quick Facts

Bilberry Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.1 m (0.3 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: slow
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: low growing, clump-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - medium
Suckering: high
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: leaves may be unsafe in high doses
Fall colour: red to purple
Flowers: white
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: summer
Fruit: small
Berries: sweet
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, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU, PE
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: common strawberry, mountain strawberry, virginia strawberry
Other Names: common bilberry, dwarf bilberry, low bilberry, myrtille, myrtle blueberry, myrtle whortleberry, whortleberry