Permaculture plants and consulting services
Edible blue honeysuckles are commonly known as Honeyberries, or Haskap. Native to northern Russia, Japan, and naturalized in Canada, this shrub can grow as a low, sprawling or upright bush. “Haskap” refers to Lonicera caerulea emphyllocalyx and related cultivars which originate from northern Japan and tend to be a little more suited to our zone 6 summers than the more cold loving Russian varieties, but they still benefit from afternoon shade in our area. Haskap honeyberries are some of the earliest fruit to ripen in the spring. Ours typically begin to ripen 2 weeks before our ‘Earliglow’ strawberries. Fruit may be oblong, barrel, or flattened bullet in shape and contain high levels of antioxidants and vitamin C. As Bob Bors describes the flavor… “it could be described as sweet, sour, bland or bitter versions of raspberry, blueberry, plum or black currents and any mixture in-between. The best ones however seem to have a predominantly raspberry flavor with sweetness and just a hint of sour or bitter or astringency to give a little zing. That little zing might be described as desirable ‘mouthfeel’ in the world of red wine tasting”. Seeds tend to be small and unnoticeable. We like to keep our homestead planted with species that are adapted to a wide range of weather conditions, to hedge all bets in the climate department. Honey berries often struggle in our hot summers, but there’s a chance that overall climate warming could actually make certain regions colder. If that happens we’re prepared!
(Lonicera caerulea)
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3″ pots $3, Quart pots $6, Gallon* pots $12
Availability of plants varies from day to day. Please call before you come to check availability.
(Lonicera caerulea)
. .
3″ pots $3, Quart pots $6, Gallon* pots $12
Availability of plants varies from day to day. Please call before you come to check availability.