Bog Blueberry

Bog Blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) is the hardiest wild blueberry in our catalog — a low, twiggy, cold-loving shrub that ranges from Alaskan tundra to the bogs and high meadows of the Cascades, Klamath Mountains and Sierra Nevada. Blue-green leaves, pink lantern-shaped spring flowers, and dusky blue berries make it a beautiful small berry plant for wet, acidic corners of the garden [1][2][3].

Edible Uses

The berries are mild, sweet and juicy, a little softer and less tart than most huckleberries. Eat them fresh or use them like any blueberry: jams, jellies, syrups, pies, muffins and pancakes. They freeze and dry well. Across the North, bog blueberries have long been put up for winter — stored cold or in oil — and folded into akutaq, and the leaves are dried for tea [1][4].

Ornamental Qualities

A dense, knee-high mound of small, blue-green, oval leaves that turn rich red to burgundy in fall. Clusters of pink to white urn-shaped flowers hang from the branch tips in late spring, followed by blue berries with a frosty bloom. Lovely at the edge of a rain garden, pond or bog bed, or as a low edible groundcover with other acid-loving natives [2][3].

For a multi-season native berry patch, pair Bog Blueberry with Cascade Blueberry, Black Huckleberry and Lingonberry.

Environment and Culture

Circumboreal: native across Alaska, Canada and Greenland, south through Washington and Oregon to the high mountains of northern California, the northern Rockies, the Great Lakes and New England, as well as northern Europe and Asia. In the West it grows in sphagnum bogs, wet subalpine meadows, rocky alpine slopes and open conifer woods [1][2][3]. The name uliginosum means “of wet places.”

Bog blueberry is one of the most important wild fruits of the far North. It is gathered by Iñupiaq, Yup’ik, Alutiiq, Unangan, Tlingit and many Athabaskan peoples, and remains a staple of summer berry picking in Alaska today [1][4]. Bears, grouse, ptarmigan, songbirds and small mammals all feed on the fruit [1]. (Learn more & how to help on our Charitable Giving page.)

Harvest, Care, and Preparation

Grow in moist to wet, strongly acidic, organic soil in full sun to part shade. Unlike most of our huckleberries, it is happy in full sun and in soils that stay damp, as long as the water isn’t stagnant and alkaline. Mulch with conifer needles or bark and never let it dry out in its first summers. Harvest when berries are fully blue and come off easily [2][5].

Note: As a wild native, bog blueberry is small and fruits more modestly than cultivated blueberries. Plant several together for a worthwhile harvest — multiple plants also improve pollination and fruit set.

(See Planting Guide on the next tab for more information.)

In the Kitchen

Toss a handful into pancakes or muffins, simmer them into a quick sauce for yogurt or ice cream, or cook them down with a little sugar into jam. Freeze extras spread on a tray, then bag them, for blueberry pie in winter.

Attributes

• Native Range: AK, Canada & Greenland south to WA, OR, northern CA (high mountains), ID, MT, WY; east to the Great Lakes and New England; also northern Europe & Asia [1][2][3]
• USDA Zones: 2–7 (into 8 in cool, moist Pacific Northwest sites) [2]
• Ease of Care: Moderate to difficult; easy once soil is acidic and stays moist [2][5]
• Deer Resistance: Low to moderate
• Light Requirements: Full sun to part shade; afternoon shade in hot inland gardens [2]
• Soil Type: Strongly acidic (pH ~4.0–5.5), moist to wet, rich in organic matter; tolerates peat and poor soils [2][5]
• Water Requirements: Moist to wet; good choice for bog beds, pond margins and rain gardens [2][3]
• Pollination: Self-fertile; bees and bumblebees; multiple plants improve fruit set [5]
• Bearing Age: ~2–4 years
• Size at Maturity: 8–24 in tall, spreading slowly by rooting stems [1][2]
• Plant Spacing: 18–30 in
• Bloom Time: May–June (later at high elevation) [3]
• Harvest Time: Late July–September [1]
• Indigenous Names: curaq (Central Alaskan Yup’ik), asiavik (Iñupiaq), cuawak (Alutiiq), ugiidgin (Unangam Tunuu), kanat’a (Tlingit), gega (Dena’ina) [1][4]

References

[1] Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Plant Materials Center — Alaska Plant Profiles: Bog Blueberry.
[2] Oregon State University Landscape Plants — Vaccinium uliginosum.
[3] Jepson eFlora — Vaccinium uliginosum subsp. occidentale, California distribution & habitat.
[4] ELOKA, Plants of Beringia — Vaccinium uliginosum: Indigenous names & traditional uses.
[5] Native Plant Network & Extension publications — cultivation & propagation guidance.

Pot Sizing Guide