Do blueberries grow wild in Ireland?

C

Caveat

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Someone is trying to convince me that they saw them on hilly/mountainous ground. I suggested they were possibly mistaking them for blackcurrants but they are adamant.

I was not aware that blueberries grew here - can anyone confirm?
 
I don't know about Blueberries growing wild, but my sister grows them in her back garden in a big pot and very successfully too, they're quite delicious !
 
Caveat said:
Someone is trying to convince me that they saw them on hilly/mountainous ground. I suggested they were possibly mistaking them for blackcurrants but they are adamant.

I was not aware that blueberries grew here - can anyone confirm?
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Not sure about them growing wild, but one of my neighbours farms them.
 
Thanks for that - no backing down required however as I can advise that bilberries/fraughans not blueberries grow in Ireland and that there is a subtle difference.

I win.
 
Hold on there. It's quite possible your friend was looking at sloes. Take a look at this photo. Case closed methinks.
 
Thanks for that - no backing down required however as I can advise that bilberries/fraughans not blueberries grow in Ireland and that there is a subtle difference.

I win.
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Not quite.
You would have to prove that not one wild blueberry plant exists in Ireland. I would be very surprised if this were the case.
Why shouldn't there be wild plants? Are they extinct in the wild?
 
kramer2006 said:
Hold on there. It's quite possible your friend was looking at sloes. Take a look at this photo. Case closed methinks.
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Maybe - not sure. They (possibly unwisely) tasted the berries - are sloes naturally sweet in their raw form? I didn't think they were.

leghorn said:
You would have to prove that not one wild blueberry plant exists in Ireland. I would be very surprised if this were the case.
Why shouldn't there be wild plants? Are they extinct in the wild?
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True, but I was hoping the discussion with them might end before this stage. I think it would be enough to suggest that it is unlikely that they were blueberries. If they don't accept this, I'll then put the onus on them to find me a plant and to have it tested/examined by a botanist.
 
Caveat said:
Maybe - not sure. They (possibly unwisely) tasted the berries - are sloes naturally sweet in their raw form? I didn't think they were.
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You're right, sloes are tart.

When I was a child I used to pick blueberries in the wild near Inch beach in Kerry for my aunt to make jam- they were sweet. I have no idea if they were native or an introduced specimen growing wild there. Actually to be really correct maybe they were not blueberries but bilberries and we just called them blueberries?
 
They were obviously bilberries Vanilla - please edit your post to remove any reference to the completely alien Blueberry.
 
Oops, sorry! You're entirely correct and I am obviously mistaken...

However if I edit my post your subsequent post would not be in context. Hmmm, if only I were a mod I could delete the last few posts.
 
You've just spoiled one of my fondest childhood memories of picking blueberries in the Wicklow mountains!

They must have been these billberries then so.
 
Yes, blueberries grow here in Dublin. I, with my family, spent an hour picking these luscious berries yesterday. Dublin, New Hampshire, that is. Today a bit on the warm side for same - 91*F. www.monadnockberries.com
But I spent many a day picking Fraechauns in Lyre bog as a young fella.
 
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