Plant types

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Nurseries & Gardens

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Buy Vaccinium parvifolium

Also Known As

Red Huckleberry

Plant type

shrub, perennial

size

H: 4'-10'
W: 3'-8'

planting zones

5a-10b

1 gallon | $39

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48 at Forestfarm

2 inch wide, 4-6 inch deep tube | $19.95

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46 at Forestfarm

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Vaccinium parvifolium plant details

Vaccinium parvifolium is a broadleaf deciduous perennial shrub with green foliage. In spring green and pink flowers emerge followed by pink and red fruit. Attracts bees, birds and hummingbirds making it an excellent addition to pollinator gardens. Grows well with sun - mostly shade and even moisture - regular water. Does well in acidic, rich and well-drained soil.

CHARACTERISTICS OF Vaccinium parvifolium

Plant type: perennial shrub
Plant family: ericaceae
Foliage: deciduous green
Mature size: 3 FT - 8 FT - wide, 4 FT - 10 FT - tall
Flowers: green and pink blooms in spring
Uses: edible, woodland garden

GROWING CONDITIONS for Vaccinium parvifolium

USDA Zones: 5a - 10b
Sun exposure: sun - mostly shade
Watering frequency: even moisture - regular

Soil needs: acidic, rich and well-drained

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Nursery contributed plant descriptions

The red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) is a lovely BC native shrub for shady spots with an open, ethereal character with wiry branches and small leaves that turn red in fall. The white to pink flowers are visited by a variety of pollinators and are followed by bright red pendulous fruits that seem magical when lit by a shaft of sunlight breaking through the forest canopy. The fruit are quite tart but edible and fun to eat fresh or used in jellies or desserts. They were an important food of First Nations peoples. They are also popular with birds and native mammals. In the wild, red huckleberry is usually found growing on rotting stumps or logs. If you have such a feature in your garden this is the perfect place to plant it but make sure to water well for the first few summers as it becomes established. Otherwise grow in sandy or loamy soils with added bark mulch mixed in. Plants are a larval host for butterflies.

By: Phoenix Perennials and Specialty Plants Ltd.

This shrub is a graceful ornament of forest openings from central California to southeastern Alaska. Dainty, pale-green leaves adorn slim angled twigs on an airy 3-8' shrub. In spring small, creamy-pink urn shaped flowers decorate the branches before ripening to cheerful, tart, red berries. Red-huckleberries make a fine landscaping plant. The edible berries (which are delicious raw, dried or jellied) were an important food source of the Native Americans, they were also used as bait for fishing as they resemble salmon roe. The bark and leaves were used as a tea to treat colds. This native can be finicky in transplanting, keep it evenly moist but not over-wet for best results. S/PSh/M/Acid

By: Forestfarm

Blooms: spring, white-pink, tasty red fruit in summer-fall/ deciduous foliage Zone 4-9. 2'-6', PNW, shade-sun, moist, well drained

By: Keeping it Green Nursery

NW Native, Small, white-pink urn shaped flowers, red, edible berries, Deer Resistant. Zones 5-8

By: Lael's Moon Garden

A deciduous native of the Pacific coast (from southeastern Alaska to central California) with small, greenish-white or pinkish, bell-shaped flowers in spring and tasty, bright red, 1/4” diameter berries in summer. Requires humus-rich, acid soil and tolerates shade, which makes it an excellent companion for azaleas and rhododendrons. Upright, somewhat spreading habit. Variable in size: 4-10' x 3-8'.