Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)

I'm confused by Bilberries. They have so many alternative names - blaeberry in Scotland, whortleberry, wimberry, whinberry, and apparently even "urts" (no idea, before you ask). They're myrtille in French, which is understandable, even though they've got nothing to do with myrtle, Myrtus communis. I hope that's cleared all that up.

You will have seen the plants on heathland (they like acidic soils and sunny sites), but they're not often grown for sale, oddly. Oddly, because bilberries make good jam and they're the key foodplant for Green hairstreak caterpillars. There's also the threatened Bombus monticola, the Bilberry bumblebee, which depends on it.

I'm sure you'll know it's a low growing, dense, tough woody plant, producing attractive bell like flowers (pictured) and blue berries which look like blueberries, their American cousin. I'll stop now.

We supply Bilberry plants in 12cm pots, roughly 1 litre, in multiples of 5.

Suppliers: R.V.Roger