Haskap Across the USA

Haskap Across the USA (based in part on this blog) was presented on July 20 at the 2012 U of S Haskap Day in Saskatoon, SK. Based on feedback from across the USA, scorching heat is hard (and sometimes deadly) on Borealis and Tundra haskap, but this is not reflected in the USDA plant zones. One grower is in zone 10b due to warm winter temps, but did not have the scorching summer heat that say OK, zone 7b, had last year.

It is possible to get berries without a non-related variety nearby for pollination, but the fruit will not be as plentiful or as large. Josh in KS (zone 5b) reported "The bad news is the Berry Blue never leafed out. The good is that I have 10 small berries on my Borealis."(Both bushes from year-old stock, planted end of March 2012)

Borealis blossoms in Kansas on year-old plant Apr 15, 2012

Borealis berry in Kansas on year-old plant May 15, 2012

Dean from zone 10b in CA reports, "The average summertime high temp where we are in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles is in the high 80’s, low 90’s, and dry, and in the winter daytime temps can be in the 50’s and 60’s.

The Berry Blue is doing very well since planting in April 2011. It's gotten much larger and is sprouting new growth. I'm guessing that the plant is about 18-24" tall now. It has not sprouted fruit, but I didn't necessarily expect that it would as I've only had both plants about 1-1/2 year. The Borealis is doing OK, but has barely grown at all and there's no new growth that I can see, possibly due to transplanting from my garden to the raised bed.

Both plants have developed an odd problem. All of the leaves other than the new growth on the Berry Blue is covered in what look like water spots but are the only leaves in the yard to display such markings, and I water under the foliage."

Two year old Borealis in CA, July 4, 2012

Spotting and drying edges on Borealis leaves in CA is not pretty but plant is surviving.
Might want to check the spots for mycelium. July 4, 2012

Zone 6b - Berries in NJ, May 19, 2011

Matt's done it again - sent in a delightful honeysuckle foto that give us northerners something to look forward to!

Blue Velvet



Honeyberry and Haskap Patch (1-3 year old plants)

 "Both Tundra bushes (year old) have about a handful of green berries on each plant. I figure the berries will be ready in a couple more weeks. Both Tundra bushes have pretty much stopped growing but I hope they will have another growth spurt after the berries are picked. The (2+ year old) Blue Moon has been growing like crazy in the past few weeks, probably doubled in size. I think its safe to say the Blue Moon is doing the best out of all the bushes. It has a couple handful of small to medium green berries on it right now. The Blue Velvet dropped most of its flowers and fruit within the past few weeks which I expected due to shock from replanting in early spring, but it still has a handful of large berries on it. Blue Velvet is also the first out of all the bushes to have a some of its berries turn purple! So I assume it will ripen first." Matt, NJ

It looks like Matt has netted his plants so he might even get to eat the berries this year! Now he just has to wait for them to turn dark purple all the way through for the best flavor! Bernis, MN

Zone 6b - New Jersey - April 16, 2011




1 year old Tundra, blossoms forming

 



Blue Velvet, blossoming

 



Blue Moon, leafing out

  Matt Catania sent in some great pics of his honeyberry plants on April 15 & 16, 2011. Tundra was forming blossoms. Blue Velvet was blossoming. It had spent the winter outside at a local greenhouse. The Blue Moon is the suggested companion pollenizer to Blue Velvet, but no blossoms were forming yet. It spent the winter outside at Matt's place. Blue Velvet and Blue Moon are supposed to be late blossoming honeyberries, so will be interesting to see what happens next year when the two plants are wintered over in identical environments. Photo tip: the white background is simply a piece of white cardboard held up behind the plants!