Description
Red Candy Lingonberry is a modern Dutch selection, patented as a deliberate improvement on Koralle: more flowers, a longer bloom, and larger berries on a naturally compact plant.
Where most lingonberries flower in two separate flushes, Red Candy blooms continuously from June into late September, carrying roughly fifteen hundred flowers and buds at once. Deep red, glossy berries follow about three weeks after bloom and hold well on the plant, giving a long, steady harvest window rather than one quick flush.
Like blueberries, lingonberries want acid soil, and Red Candy repays it with a low, spreading evergreen mat that works as hard in a foundation planting or groundcover as it does in the kitchen.
Overview
- Patented as an improvement on Koralle: more flowers, longer bloom, bigger berries.
- Continuous bloom from June into late September, rather than two separate flushes.
- Deep red, glossy berries about half an inch across.
- Low, spreading evergreen shrub that doubles as a groundcover.
- Wants the same acid soil blueberries do.
- Unusually clean: few pests and no spray program needed.
Growing Details
Latin Name: Vaccinium vitis-idaea ‘Red Candy’
Site and Soil: Full sun with good air and soil drainage; light, acid soil, pH 4.3 to 5.5
Hardiness: Hardy to USDA Zone 2; open flowers can be damaged by a 28 F frost during bloom
Rootstock: Grown from tissue culture
Size at Maturity: About 7 in tall and 11 in across, an upright mound
Bearing Age: Berries follow about three weeks after each flower opens
Ripening Time: Late season; August into September
Pollination: Partially self-fertile; a second lingonberry nearby raises fruit set from about 28 to 64 percent
Pests & Diseases: Unusually clean; root rot from overwatering is the main risk
Additional Notes
- Grower’s Insight: Skip overhead watering once established, since soggy soil brings on the root rot that is the real threat to this shrub, not cold or pests.
- Regional Insight: Lingonberries thrive from the Upper Midwest and New England through the Pacific coastal states, wherever winters run cold and soils lean acidic.
- Explore more berries in our collection: Berries
