# Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

> Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum: a shrub of 5 to 15 feet for zones 3 to 8, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/highbush-blueberry/

![A highbush blueberry shrub with deep red fall leaves in a sunny, grassy swamp opening](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/highbush-blueberry-1000.jpg?v=cef3aac1 "Highbush blueberry in fall color in a swampy opening in the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey, on October 21, 2024. It grows in swamps and along streams.")
*Photo: Famartin, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A2024-10-21_11_02_53_Highbush_Blueberry_in_autumn_in_a_swampy_area_along_North_Stump_Tavern_Road_within_the_Colliers_Mills_Wildlife_Management_Area_in_Jackson_Township%2C_Ocean_County%2C_New_Jersey.jpg))*

Shrub, 5 to 15 feet, zones 3 to 8; full sun or part shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow highbush blueberry, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Highbush Blueberry |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Swamp blueberry, American blueberry, tall blueberry, northern highbush blueberry |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 5 to 15 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 12 |
| Zones | 3 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, edible, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, winter interest |
| Flowers | February to June |
| Fruit | Berries, April to November |
| First crop | 2 to 3 years after planting (bigger harvests after 5; the Morton Arboretum gives 4 to 8 years) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Highbush blueberry sets fruit with its own pollen, but a second plant nearby gives more and larger berries. |
| Black walnut | Sensitive, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “blueberry” |
| Ground | Stream banks, the Appalachians, the coast, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 29 states and the District of Columbia |

Highbush blueberry is native in 29 states and the District of Columbia: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=highbush-blueberry): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=highbush-blueberry:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Maleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/maleberry/index.html.md) (*Lyonia ligustrina*): shrub, 6 to 12 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares stream banks, the Appalachians, the coast, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Large Cranberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/large-cranberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium macrocarpon*): shrub, 1 to 2 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares stream banks, the Appalachians, the coast, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Squashberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/squashberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum edule*): shrub, 2 to 7 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, the Appalachians, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Swamp Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-azalea/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron viscosum*): shrub, 3 to 8 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares stream banks, the coast, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Pinxterbloom Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron periclymenoides*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares stream banks, the Appalachians, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md) (*Clethra alnifolia*): shrub, 4 to 8 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares stream banks, the coast, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Every companion of highbush blueberry in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=highbush-blueberry)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, University of Minnesota Extension, the University of Connecticut's plant database and the USDA PLANTS Database.