Redwing Highbush Cranberry vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Redwing Highbush Cranberry vs Bilberry

Viburnum trilobum JN Select

Vaccinium myrtillus

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

CUSTOM GROW

Redwing Highbush Cranberry
Bilberry

The Redwing Highbush Cranberry is a dense multi-stemmed shrub that blooms with white pinwheel shaped flowers in spring. It produces small, red, and edible berries in late summer. Its leaves are green, but the tips become more saturated with red throughout the season, and then turn a stunning crimson colour in the fall.

The Redwing Highbush Cranberry makes a good addition to any urban garden or hedge, and its berries are commonly used to liven up preserves with their tart flavor.

Bilberry is a native perennial shrub valued for its small, blue-black berries that ripen in mid to late summer. The berries resemble blueberries but have a richer, more tart, and intense flavor. They have long been used for fresh eating, baking, and preserves, while also providing food for birds and mammals. In spring, its delicate pinkish flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

Growing low to the ground, Bilberry forms spreading colonies that create dense understory cover. This growth habit provides food and shelter for wildlife, and its foliage adds seasonal interest by turning red to purple in autumn. With its adaptability and ecological benefits, Bilberry is well-suited for naturalization, ecological restoration, and pollinator gardens.

Redwing Highbush Cranberry Quick Facts

Bilberry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
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: low


Toxicity: leaves may be unsafe in high doses
Foliage: red tips on leaves
Fall colour: red/orange
Flowers: white, pinwheel shaped
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: summer
Berries: small, red
Berries: round bluish-purple berries, edible
Flavor: sour
Flavor: sweet
Harvest: late August-February
Harvest: late summer to early fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


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