Cranberry - Northern
Ease to Grow: Easy
Dormancy: Yes
Native Range: Peat Bogs of Eastern North America
Zones: 2-6 (2-8)
Northern Small Cranberry, Vaccinium oxycoccos, is a vining, low growing bog plant with pretty, edible, pinkish red berries in the Fall, maroon in Winter. Leaves are shorter, 1/8" (.5 cm), elliptical with very short stems and a pronounced dark vein. Flowers resemble small pink shooting stars or the head of a crane. Fruit ripens in the Fall, and are typically numerous, small, 1/4" (1cm), with a sour apple taste. V. oxycoccos prefers cooler growing than V. macrocarpus. Cranberries prefer the open, wet areas of bogs, often forming a dense ring around open water or creeping among other plants in bog hummocks. Cranberry can be a rapid grower, forming dense networks of intertwining vines, 3ft (1m) long. This is great for copious fruit bearing, but can crowd an area, if not trimmed and controlled. It develops dark red leaves in the Fall, and is winter hardy. Water with rain/distilled water. It is a curious and interesting bog plant, and makes an attractive boggy ground cover with delicious fruit.
For Cranberry, each portion is a rooted, growing small starter plant.
Height: 1" - 3"
Plant Type: Perennial, cold temperate
Soil: Lower Bog Mix
Soil pH: 4-6.5
Light: Partial Sun to Shade
Use: Edible, pretty fruit, curious ground cover among carnivorous plants
