Vaccinium Species, Cowberry, Foxberry, Lingonberry, Northern Mountain Cranberry

I planted several lingonberry plants and one has survived. I finally wised up to the fact that they apparently do not like to be watered...Read More. The remaining plant thrives now that I've stopped watering it. I grow it in a very large container. I'm in zone 6.

It sets fruit in late fall. Not a lot of fruit. I would need several dozen of these plants to get enough fruit for a jar of jam. But it's an attractive little plant.

I bought this last year (2011) from Betty Ann Addison of Gardens of Rice Creek. I already had a cultivar of the European variety, which w...Read Moreas doing well, but I was eager to get the American variety when I saw that it was significantly different. The American variety is much shorter, has differently shaped leaves (wider, perhaps?) and to my eyes looks much cuter. It, unlike the European variety, seems to have branched stems. I haven't yet gotten any fruit from either.

There are two recognised subspecies of Vaccinium vitis-idaea. This subspecies minus, occurs in the New World. Its range extends from Ala...Read Moreska across the Canadian Arctic and south into New England and the Great Lakes. It is common throughout most of Alaska where the berries are collected for food. The berries have a taste and texture very similar to cranberries, but they are smaller. In Alaskan the plants are prostrate, growing or trailing along the grown. They are considered to be intermediate between blueberries and cranberries.

This is a very common plant of the Newfoundland barrens. While the European species recahes 6-12" tall, the variety 'minus' is usually u...Read Morender 3". The berries are a local delicacy, made into jams, compotes and used in muffins. We call them 'partridgeberry', not to be confused with Mitchella repens, which is also called partridgeberry, but is not edible. We essentially use them as a substitute for cranberries. The shiny evergreen foliage, pretty pink flowers and bright red fruit make them a suitable candidate for a rock garden setting.