Vaccinium angustifolium - Lowbush Blueberry
0.5-2' × 2-3' | White to pinkish bell-shaped blooms, mid-spring | Low-growing, rhizomatous groundcover | Full sun to part shade, dry to moist, highly acidic soils | Exceptional groundcover, wildlife, and edible value
Native to the boreal forests, rocky outcrops, and pine barrens of the Northeast and upper Midwest US, Vaccinium angustifolium is an incredibly tough, low-profile standout. It thrives in well-drained, highly acidic, sandy or rocky soils, spreading via underground rhizomes to form a dense, weed-suppressing colonial mat. It is exceptionally cold-hardy.
Tiny, urn-shaped white flowers tinged with pink emerge in spring alongside the new foliage, providing a critical nectar source for specialized native bees. Successfully pollinated flowers give way to small, intensely sweet, wild-flavored blue berries in mid-summer that are highly prized by foragers, bears, and songbirds. Small, narrow, glossy blue-green leaves have a fine texture, reliably turning a spectacular, blazing, solid crimson-red in the autumn. Features a dense, twiggy network of greenish-red stems that provides beautiful, fine-textured ground-level visual interest in the winter landscape.
Lowbush Blueberry makes a great lawn alternative, slope stabilizer, or woodland edge groundcover thanks to its creeping stature, rugged adaptability, and incredible fall color. While straight species are typically planted for ecological restoration and wild foraging, selected cultivars like 'Brunswick' (heavy fruiting) and 'Burgundy' (exceptional red fall color) offer great landscape consistency.
Larval Host for:
Brown Elfin Callophrys augustinus
Striped Hairstreak Satyrium liparops
Huckleberry Sphinx Paonias astylus
Various Geometrid Moths Family Geometridae
Specifications
| Plant Size | #3, #1, #5 |
| Variety | North Country, Burgundy, Claret, Fundy |
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