Highbush blueberry
Vaccinium corymbosum · Ericaceae
The blueberry of gardens and farms: white bells in spring, heavy crops of fruit in summer, scarlet and orange leaves in autumn, and red twigs in winter.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Early May to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around highbush blueberry
The planner designed this bed around highbush blueberry when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why highbush blueberry stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Highbush blueberry × 1, white
- 2 Leadwort × 16, blue
- 3 Bloody cranesbill × 8, pink
- 4 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 5 Southernwood × 3, grey-green leaves
- 6 English lavender 'Hidcote' × 3, purple
- 7 Easter lily × 5, white
- 8 Schubert's allium × 4, pink
- 9 Persian fritillary × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to southernwood (3½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From early May to late May.
- Part of the bed's peak. With bloody cranesbill and Schubert's allium in late May: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 7 groups (86%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height in late May, with 3 kinds out together. The flowers stay on the cool side of the palette: blue, pink, purple, white and cream.
The planner's own design check: 8 Excellent, 8 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where highbush blueberry goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
One of the best ornamental shrubs, even without the fruit. It must have acid soil, pH 4.5 to 5.5. Plant two varieties for a better crop.
- Fruit and four seasons of ornament
- A native substitute for burning bush
- Acid, moist soil
What to plant with highbush blueberry
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Summersweet: takes over when it finishes, flowering from mid July; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same moist soil.
- Winterberry: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; happy in the same moist soil.
- Virginia sweetspire: takes over when it finishes, flowering from early June; spires rising out of its mound; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about highbush blueberry
Does highbush blueberry need sun or shade?
Highbush blueberry grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. It copes with soil that stays wet.
What zones does highbush blueberry grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does highbush blueberry flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Mid May to early June |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 6 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 7 | Late April to mid May |
| Zone 8 | Mid April to early May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should highbush blueberry be planted?
5 ft (150 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many highbush blueberry plants do I need?
Usually one. At 5 ft (150 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 5 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is highbush blueberry poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat highbush blueberry?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after highbush blueberry?
Highbush blueberry is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Virginia sweetspire: from early June to early July, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Delphinium: from late June to mid July, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- English rose 'Graham Thomas': from mid June to early October, 5 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does highbush blueberry look like in winter?
Highbush blueberry drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is highbush blueberry good for bees and butterflies?
Highbush blueberry is visited by pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is a host plant: the caterpillars of brown elfin feed on its leaves. A butterfly can only lay its eggs on its host plants, so these do more for it than any nectar flower.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Vaccinium
- Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea
- Lowbush blueberry Vaccinium angustifolium
In these guides
- Plants for wet soil and rain gardens
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Plants for a white garden
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
- Host plants for the brown elfin
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
In flower in: May
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 5 ft (150 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Early May to late May; hanging bells; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, deciduous; dark green, red
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Comes from
- Eastern North America
- Attracts
- Pollinators, bees, specialist bees, butterflies, songbirds
- Host plant for
- Brown elfin
- Stands up to
- Wet soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.