Vaccinium corymbosum 'North Country' (Highbush Blueberry)

Vaccinium corymbosum 'North Country' is a unique cultivar of highbush blueberry, a bushy, densely-branching shrub known and widely regarded for its tasty edible fruits, which are also prized by birds and wildlife. The 'North Country' cultivar is unique in that it is a dwarf variety that is commonly referred to as a hybrid of highbush and lowbush (V. angustifolium) blueberries which noted for its extremely compact habit and good cold-hardiness. Also called a half-highbush, 'North Country' grows to only about 2-3' tall and wide, and usually flowers in May with berries ripening around mid-July.

The 'North Country' cultivar's small stature makes it ideal for small garden spaces and compact U-Pick set-ups, with plants producing white or pink-tinged, bell-shaped flowers which turn to berries that are a little larger than a common lowbush blueberry, but with the same mild, sweet flavor. Blueberry bushes like 'North Country' make great additions to open yards as a source of free fruit, or as border and hedge plantings, where you can produce fruit en masse and where fall colors of yellow and orange add multi-season interest. If utilizing blueberry bushes for fruit production, care should be taken to cover plants while fruit develops to avoid bird damage.

Note: Most highbush blueberries are not self-fertile and require a pollinating partner of a different variety in order to produce good sets of fruit. As both are hybrids, 'Top Hat' works well as a pollinating pair for 'North Country.'