# Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)

> Lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium: a shrub of 0.5 to 2 feet for zones 2 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/lowbush-blueberry/

![Lowbush blueberry plants with ripe blue and pale pink berries spreading over gray lichen and stones](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/lowbush-blueberry-1000.jpg?v=3ddcd22f "Lowbush blueberry in fruit on Signal Hill, St. John's, Newfoundland, on August 22, 2019. The berries ripen about 50 days after the flowers, from midsummer to late summer.")
*Photo: Ryan Hodnett, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALowbush_Blueberry_(Vaccinium_angustifolium)_-_St._John's%2C_Newfoundland_2019-08-22_(03).jpg))*

Shrub, 0.5 to 2 feet, zones 2 to 8; full sun, part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow lowbush 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 | Lowbush Blueberry |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Low sweet blueberry, late lowbush blueberry, late sweet blueberry, common lowbush blueberry |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 0.5 to 2 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 2 |
| Zones | 2 to 8 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, edible, bears young, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | April to July |
| Fruit | Berries, June to October |
| First crop | About 4 years (first flowers) |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated plant. Lowbush blueberry sets little fruit with its own pollen, so plant two or more seedlings from different parents for a crop. |
| Planting season | Spring |
| Black walnut | Sensitive, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “blueberry” |
| Ground | Sandy barrens, rocky ground, the Appalachians, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 22 states |

Lowbush blueberry is native in 22 states: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [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), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [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), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [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 [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=lowbush-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=lowbush-blueberry): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=lowbush-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=lowbush-blueberry): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=lowbush-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=lowbush-blueberry): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Velvetleaf Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/velvetleaf-blueberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium myrtilloides*): shrub, 1 to 4 feet, zones 2 to 6. Shares sandy barrens, rocky ground, the Appalachians, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Hillside Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hillside-blueberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium pallidum*): shrub, 1 to 3 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares sandy barrens, rocky ground, the Appalachians, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Limber Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/limber-honeysuckle/index.html.md) (*Lonicera dioica*): shrub, 3 to 10 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares rocky ground, the Appalachians, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Roundleaf Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-serviceberry/index.html.md) (*Amelanchier sanguinea*): shrub, 3 to 23 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares sandy barrens, rocky ground and the Appalachians in the wild.
- [Running Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/running-serviceberry/index.html.md) (*Amelanchier spicata*): shrub, 1 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [New Jersey Tea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/new-jersey-tea/index.html.md) (*Ceanothus americanus*): shrub, 2 to 3 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares sandy barrens, rocky ground, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of lowbush blueberry in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=lowbush-blueberry)

## Read from

Its figures come from NC State Extension, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the University of Connecticut's plant database, UNH Extension, the USDA PLANTS Database, the Native Plant Network and Go Botany.