This is exciting, Ella. I've been thinking about putting these in and you may now have totally convinced me. I have 2 var. of small saskatoon bushes (2 years old) and I am not impressed with their production or the amount of bugs that they seem to be attracting. Most of my berries this year are encased in spider webs and looking just plain yucky. I have seriously been thinking of replacing them with honeyberries and I'm really happy to hear your report. Keep us posted.

Shauna

Ohhh a testimonial... I was wondering about these earlier. I bought some blueberries this spring - didn't read anywhere but do you think the honeyberries would cross with blueberries if planted to close??? I want these... Planting so many fruits I'm going to run out of veggie room soon. LOL

Agree!....Mine are turning blue also.
Have about a half cup coming on my few little plants! Layered some last year and planted 4 new ones from it and looking good.
I'm also very pleased with it!
Konrad

Konrad, how do you layer your shrubs? Do you leave layered over winter and separate in the spring?

Ella

It seems they root very easily! All 4 layered from last year took, 3 of them have some berries on already!
This pic will show you how I did it, [you don't have to follow exactly] at the red tag, the branch is going into the ground, U shape, have broken the twig first a little by bending, have put a rock in the center to keep it down and another rock on the other side to push the plant up.
Yes, I leave it over winter, transplant as soon you can work the ground.
Konrad

New layered plant from last year with berries.

Konrad, thank you. Pictures are better than words. I will try it for sure.
Ella

Thanks for the idea Konrad. It should save me some money. Have you done this with any other plants? If so which other ones root easy. I wonder if it would work with roses.
Shelley

Thank you all!
Shelley, this is only my second or third year doing this, I have tried on the double flowering plum, or whatever it's called.....no luck. I think most of the small fruit shrub will work, what are on there own root system, not sure about roses, I would just try and see, it only takes one season to find out.
Konrad

Ella, congrats on the honeyberries! I think I may have to try some.

As for layering braches, I've had really good success with Forsythia. Have tyied a few times with clematis, but no luck yet. I've heard spireas can do well, but haven't tried them.

I have just inherited a honeyberry plant. I have never heard of it before. What can you do with them, muffins, pies, cobblers?

kizmettime, I think all of the baking you have suggested would be good. They would be used just as any berry would be used. However, you will want to get another bush of honeyberries, of another variety. They must be cross pollinated with another variety of honeyberry to produce berries.

Therefore, find out what variety of honeyberry you have inherited, ie. Berry Blue, and then get another variety such as Blue Belle. Then you should have berries next spring.

I've found two lovely plants thru private sale and I can hardly wait to get them. One question that maybe someone can answer for me - the area that I want to put them in has a fairly high clay content. Do they prefer more of a peat based soil? If so, I'd better start amending now.

Shauna

Here is a link that might be useful: Honeyberries

Ella, congrats and thanks for the post and Konrad, thanks for the great and very illustrative photos.

Does anyone know how closely I can/should plant the honeyberries to each other? Like others, more planting passion than space for plants...

Steve

From one bush planted in 2000, I havested on gallon(!) of honeyberries. That would be the cultivar 'Czech No. 17'(Berry BlueÂ), and the heaviest fruiting of my bushes. It is almost 5 feet tall now. Somehow a bird got inside the net of the others and did some real damage, gluttonwise.

My description of the taste: at first blueberry, then grapefruit.

Let me also reiterate this caution I posted in this thread:
And I have found in my climate 4a, they could be considered invasive. The first few years I allowed the birds to feast, and I had seedlings coming up everywhere. But now that I net them, there is no problem. In your zone 3 they might be just fine. Still, an ounce of caution . . .

Rick

Wow, thanks for these flavor descriptions, very helpful!

For those who still wonder about taste: the place that Shauna linked to for info on Honeyberries, also sells Honeyberry jam!

I can't wait to plant a couple of these this summer. I live in Zone 5, so I enjoy a good variety of plants, but I can't resist a plant that harvests "2 weeks before strawberries." I crave fruit the most during June, so it sounds ideal!

Its been a while since anyone posted on honeyberries. Im wondering how you are liking them now that you are a few years down the road? I've been thinking of getting some but hesitant at $19 a plant and I need two varieties.
Are they tasty?
Are they prolific?
Do they gave tough seeds like Gooseberries?
Are you having good success spreading them?
Do you know a less costly source?
Thanks
Arrow

When are you harvesting them? I haven't planted any yet but from what I have read they look ripe weeks before they actually are.

I let them on for about another 2 to 3 weeks weeks when turning blue, but they need to be covered.

See my review:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3841604/my-backyard-planting-experience-part-2-zone-4a-b-quebec-canada?n=30

Briefly, if you want fresh eating go with Aurora but ideally the even newer varieties (although I have not tasted those yet) (Boreal Blizard, Boreal Beauty, Boreal Beast)

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/Documents/Haskap/Boreal%20Blizzard.pdf

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/Documents/Haskap/Boreal%20Beauty%20May%202016.pdf

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/Documents/Haskap/Boreal%20Beast%20May%202016.pdf

If you want preserves can probably go with any as you will add sugar but the above 4 are still good bets for size and flavor.

So far my yields have been slow to increase so depending on your flavor preference and yard size, I would actually lean towards Titania black currant if I had limited space and wanted jam/syrup.

_____________________

Haskasp – Tundra (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com) Survived. No dieback. Tons of flowers.

Haskasp – Aurora (Planted Fall 2014 from Whiffletree) Survived. No dieback. Tons of flowers.

Haskasp – Honeybee (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com) Survived. No dieback. Tons of flowers.

Haskasp – Borealis (Planted Fall 2013 from prairieplant.com) Survived. No dieback. Tons of flowers.

All the Haskasps were flowering around May 14 with Tundra perhaps a bit later. Aurora and Tundra seem to have the longest bloom time. The plants are still pretty small, about 18-24” tall. The new varieties Boreal Blizzart and Boreal Beauty seem to be amazing with much larger/sweeter fruit and flowering 2-4 weeks later! I just don’t have room!

Fruit was ripening June 15-20 but still tasted pretty sour. I heard leaving them on the bush made a difference so I left them longer. Well the day later the birds discovered them and took about 50%. I netted them quickly but will be sure to do so earlier next year. On July 1st I harvested the rest except for some Aurora's which were still ripening.

The ones labelled Honey Bee in my photos are actually Borealis. I also had Tundra and Aurora.

Aurora is by far the largest. Tundra and Borealis were similar in size. Taste test with my wife: For fresh eating Aurora won hands down the best. Borealis perhaps had a slight edge over Tundra. Measuring Brix Aurora (17, 14), Tundra (9, 9.8, 11.8), Borealis (12, 12, 11.2) so you can see why Aurora was more pleasant. In the end we ate the Aurora's fresh and I made a compote with the other 2 by mixing 1 part berries to 0.5 part sugar by weight and it was nice and tasty and acidic.

Yield post bird attack was tiny. Aurora 5 berries (8 grams), Tundra (41 grams), Borealis (32 grams). All are about 3 year old plants.

I removed my Borealis & BerryBlue and starting all over with new varieties. Got Aurora, Blizzard & Beauty this side of the border and Strawberry Sensation, Blue Moose, Blue Banana, Happy Giant & Giants Heart from south of the border (usa). All small starts so will be about 3 years to taste. They cover a long period of ripening and various flavors, so will be interesting. I really liked the flavor of Aurora, but not so much the others I removed.

Just watch for flowering times as Aurora will likely bloom too early for Blizzard & Beauty. Blizzard and Beauty will probably need "Beast" for pollination which will be released next year. That said I don't know what your bloom times for your USA varieties are.

Check this for more info:

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/Documents/Haskap/Haskap%20bloom%20ripe%20charts.pdf

For reported size and flavor I see myself converting over to Blizzard, Beauty and Beast to completely remove the risk of late frost damage though I will probably keep Aurora for getting fruit a couple weeks earlier. I'm also not sure what the Japanese beetles will do to later arriving fruit......

I got a wide range of bloom times for the USA ones so I'm trying to plant them from earliest to latest in the row. They have a lot of interesting charts which include the U of S ones I got. Here is the site I ordered from: http://www.lovehoneyberry.com/berries-unlimiteds-honeyberries/

The part I have difficulty with are the names. Did they breed all those themselves or are they known Russian/Japanese cultivars that they renamed? As soon as you rename something you loose all the historical information and complicate collection and breeding information.

I think they bred them all themselves. On the link near the bottom of the page it goes into the different breeding groups that they come from in their breeding program. They seem to have a much bigger program then U of S. Whiffletree has 2 of their varieties this year and Agriforest has several