Description

Vaccinium – Blueberry – Cranberry – Huckleberry –

A large and varied genus of about 450 evergreen, semi evergreen, or deciduous shrubs, trees, and vines, widely distributed throughout artic and tropical regions, occurring in variety of habitats, from heath and moorland to bogs and woodland.  They are valued for their ornamental foliage, flowers, and berries.  The leathery leaves are alternate, and may be lance shaped to oval or rounded, with or without teeth, the deciduous species often have pointed tips, and display brilliant autumn color.  The small urn to bell shaped flowers are white, green, pink, purple, or red and are produced singly or in terminal or axillary racemes in spring or early summer and are downward facing.  The flowers are followed by edible, usually spherical berries, some species, including V. angustifolium var. laevifolium, V. ashei, V. corymbosum, and V. macrocaron, are grown for their fruits (Blueberries, cranberries, bilberry, huckleberry,  and whortleberry which are red or blue-black and are often covered with a bloom when ripe).  Vacciniums are useful for a shrub border, woodland garden, or rock garden.

Grow in acidic, peaty or sandy, moist but well drained soil in full sun or partial shade, some prefer boggy ground.  Protect from the hottest summer sun.

Prone to caterpillars, scale insects, gray mold (botrytis), leaf gall, bud gall, dieback, Phytoptora crown and root rot, powdery mildew, rust, and witches broom.

V. arctostaphylos – Caucasian Whortleberry–  This erect densely branched deciduous shrub from Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus grows 10’ feet tall and about half as wide.  Young shoot emerge red-brown and carrying elliptic smooth edged, dark green leaves to 4” long, which develop red and purple color in autumn.   In early summer, bell shaped, pink tinged white flowers, 3/8” long, are produced in pendent, axillary racemes to 2” long, followed by edible spherical, purple black berries, 3/8” across.

Zones 6-8