Bilberry
Vaccinium myrtillus
Also called Whinberry, Blaeberry, Wimberry and European blueberry
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitNOT a small blueberry — a different species, a native of acid moorland, and far harder in a garden because it wants cool, damp, peaty ground and resents being dried out once. The berries are dark all the way through, which the blueberry's are not.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Hard
- Water
- Every 4 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Sun to part shade
- Feed
- Every 90 days
- Humidity
- Average to high
- Hardiness
- Very hardy RHS H7, to -25°C
- Size
- 0.4 m tall · 0.6 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- Northern Europe and Asia
Is it safe for pets and people?
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Neither authority names Vaccinium, which the blueberry and cranberry rows above already record. That is an absence and not a clean bill.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-09-22. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Leaves crisping at the edges and the whole plant sulking for the rest of the season. Its roots are shallow and it comes from cool damp moorland — a single hot dry fortnight sets it back a year.Dried out once · disorder
- Yellow new leaves with green veins. Like the blueberry above it, it needs acid ground and rainwater — but it is fussier, and ordinary ericaceous compost in a pot is often not enough.Lime-induced chlorosis · disorder