Description:

An interesting evergreen groundcover; green summer foliage will turn burgundy red in fall and stay like that through winter; small red fruit in summer will also last into winter

Edible Qualities

Lo-Hugger American Cranberry is a small shrub that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces small clusters of red round berries which are usually ready for picking from mid to late summer. The berries have an acidic taste.

The berries are most often used in the following ways:

• Cooking
• Preserves
• Juice-Making
• Canning
• Freezing

Features & Attributes

Lo-Hugger American Cranberry features dainty clusters of white bell-shaped flowers with shell pink overtones hanging below the branches in mid spring. It has dark green evergreen foliage. The small glossy oval leaves turn an outstanding burgundy in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. It features an abundance of magnificent red berries from mid summer to early winter.

This is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a spreading, ground-hugging habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Lo-Hugger American Cranberry is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Lo-Hugger American Cranberry will grow to be only 6 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years. This variety requires a different selection of the same species growing nearby in order to set fruit.

This shrub is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have sandy, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider covering it with a thick layer of mulch in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selection of a native North American species.

Lo-Hugger American Cranberry is a good choice for the edible garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.