When I ordered this little evergreen bush that promised to replace cranberry sauce on my thanksgiving day plate I must say I was skeptical to say the least. That's like a football game without potato chips or Alvin and Simon without Theodore but this little gem may have won me over. Lingonberries (Vaccinium Vitus-Idea) are small plants growing 6" to 1' tall most things I have read say they are about 2'wide but they also say they spread through underground rhyzomes so it sounds to me like they will fill in the area given. I have 2 in the ground and 2 in a pot. The ones in the ground are both Koralle variety which is said to be a faster spreading variety
and the ones in pots are Ida. Ida is slow spreading and are very heavy producing.
As I mentioned they are evergreen and bloom in early autumn and fruit in late autumn except for Ida who fruits late summer and again in late autumn. They change colors from dark green to lighter green to pink depending on the season. My Ida plants fruited their first year but the Koralle plants didn't. They are blooming heavily right now so I am hopeful. The fruit fresh taste to me a lot like a mushy cranberry but when turned into a jam or sauce they will blow your mind. They may have replaced raspberry jam as my wife's favorite. Not an easy task to accomplish. Don't believe me? Go to Ikea and get some Lingonberry jam for yourself. It might take a while before you will have enough to make jam or sauce but you can enjoy the beauty of the bush while you're waiting. They are self fertile but produce more when planted with other varieties like most vaccinium species.
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