Hardy in zones 4-8. Loves the sun to shade.

Ben Lear ripens early season. Harvest berries by hand when red, from late September to late October. Berries cannot stand a frost below 30°F so it is best to pick them before a hard frost or protect them with covers. One 5ft X 5ft bed may yield up to 5 lbs of fruit in the third and forth year of production. High Bush Cranberry ‘Ben Lear’s burgundy-red color, early fruiting period and the large size is prized for processing into sauces. ‘Ben Lear’ is very productive.

The cranberry is a groundcover plant with two types of growth habits; runners (rhizomes) trail and spread the plant as long as two feet in one season. Uprights are born on the runners and bear the flowers and fruit. The goal is to get the numerous runners to spread quickly in the first two years to cover the ground, and then to produce strong uprights (up to 200 per sq. foot) to produce flowers and fruit. The plant has a fine root system that only grows in the upper 4 to 6 inches of the soil.