In The Garden Now… Evergreen Huckleberry

Evergreen Huckleberry Shrub

Text and photo by Victoria Gilleland

Talk about an easy to grow beautiful shrub for your garden... this is it! Evergreen Huckleberry is native to the Pacific Northwest. It grows beautifully in full shade to full sun, has lustrous evergreen leathery leaves, and produces clusters of whitish pink bell shaped flowers in spring that turn to small tasty blackish fruits in late summer and fall. Those berries that aren’t eaten in the garden by wildlife or hungry family members make their way into mini muffins at our house. 

When an ancient big leaf maple tree split and fell, the rotting stump that was left behind became home to a new huckleberry plant. We broke down the heart of the stump so we could slip in a small plant to be nursed by the rotting wood. The young huckleberry thrives on its maple host or ’nurse log’ and regularly produces a fine crop of berries. 

In the sun evergreen huckleberry stays smaller at around 3 to 5 feet. In its native forests under ideal growing conditions such as those on the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas it may reach 15 feet high. The plants are very forgiving when it comes to pruning.

I prune our senior huckleberry plant back when it has been a little too ambitious with its growth. We maintain it at about 4 or 5 feet high and wide. Snipped branches that have begun to intrude on neighboring plants or a garden path are often added to flower arrangements where they hold up admirably.  

Gorgeous foliage, lovely spring flowers, and delicious berries … What a multi-talented garden plant!

Botanical Name:  Vaccinium ovatum

Victoria Gilleland is the owner of Cottage Garden Designs, a Garden Design company specializing in Redesign of Residential Gardens, Garden Consultation and Coaching. She has been designing gardens in the northwest for over 20 years.