If you want to try seeds take them out of the fruits first.

Layering should definitely work, and they are quite easy from cuttings - a good 'starter species' if you want to try some cuttings that will not be too difficult. Why not, if you have a lot of free material? I agree, it is one of our more appealaing native plants.

I have found two or three e-huck seedlings on my small lot, sprouted from the main bush berries via robin activity.

Try planting some seeds shallowly in small pots and just leave them outside all winter except during extreme cold. The seedlings are very recognizable as e-hucks when tiny.

Layering definitely works.
Just last week I found three nice new plants that I took off one mother plant in our woodland.
I don't remember doing it, or when, but apparently I had placed a rock over a section of a few low branches, and there was nice new growth and a good size root structure on each.

The ones with bloomy ("blue") berries are said to taste better. They are certainly more ornamental than those with the typical black berries. I'd look for a blue one and take cuttings from it.

Are these shrubs dioecious?
There is one large shrub in the greenbelt behind our woodland that has never had berries in the 16 years we've lived here.
I haven't actually investigated the flower parts and just recently realized there has never been berries on that one.
Another that I transplanted from the greenbelt about 10 years ago gets small black berries and has done well in my upper woodland.

Also,I remember Arthur Krukeberg saying that these are NOT native to this particular area of the PNW. And I took exception to that because of the ones in our greenbelt and the ones in Lund's gulch. If I remember correctly he said they were native further south, though, and attributed these here as introductions.

The question would be if ones growing wild near you are naturally occuring or if they seeded out from plantings. Lots of plants are growing wild near settled areas that are not native. Many are Eurasian in origin. One botanist has collected 60 species of cotoneaster alone, reseeding in Seattle.

I've done cuttings a few times, its definitely worth a try, what can you lose? I've dropped the berries here and there and never gotten a seedling but my cuttings have a good percentage. Yes, layering would be even easier if you can get a branch bent down.

I have 6-7 bushes, all planted at the same time I imagine, by the previous owners. Each one berries differently - one has had fantastic berries from mid-summer on. A few more have berries that are harder to pick and dry up faster on the bush, one just has a zillion unripe berries, still! So if you have a choice in your cuttings, pick one with berries you like. Just try it!

For several years, I've tried digging young wild ones and planting in my yard. All but a few died. However, this past year I put in some fall cuttings and was surprised to get a 100% success rate on them. I'll bet if you snipped off some 6-8 inch branch ends, stripped off the bottom leaves, and stuck them in the ground right now, come spring you'd have a nice crop of huckleberry seedlings.

John

Thank you all, sounds like layering is the way to go to me. I'll hope to have some nice babies next year. As a bonus, I realized that the little rhododendron growing near them is really a madrona tree, at least it has redder bark and is just starting to peel a bit. Madronas are so gorgeous!

I looked on several websites for an answer to this question, myself. This is what I learned:

One fact that was stressed on several websites is that slavaging/digging up small plants is not always successful, because they are often off-shoots from roots of larger plants, or branches that have touched the ground, and may not have roots of their own. A couple of sites said that hardwood cuttings taken from November through April rooted 100% of the time.

My mother has thickets of Evergreen Huckleberries on her property, and I have noticed at least two varieties: one with bright blue berries, and one with darker blue berries and a white, powdery-looking appearance. The bright blue berries seem sweeter to me.

Some of the bushes on her property have branches that have a fuzzy coating, like a cattail, on them. If these branches touch the ground, they will root, although it may take a few seasons to establish an independent root system. You might try putting a gallon pot full of potting soil under one of these branches with a rock on top of it to weight it down and ensure contact with the dirt, and then you'll have a potted plant that you can put wherever you want.

Left to their own devices, huckleberries will form a thicket that is almost impenetrable, so plant bushes at least two feet apart, more if you prefer to have specimen plantings versus a hedge. They can also get very tall (my mother's are at least 12 feet tall). They make a great hedge and privacy screen, but the deer absolutely love the berries and young leaves, so be aware of that if deer are a problem on your property. And birds are very effective at spreading the seeds, so be on the lookout for seedlings, and dig them up while they are still very small. As they get bigger, their chances of survival upon transplanting get slimmer.

Here are a couple of links:

http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_vaov2.pdf

http://www.rainyside.com/features/plant_gallery/nativeplants/Vaccinium_ovatum.html