Zone 8 Oregon

March 31, 2011, Cornelius, OR - Flowers on 3 year old haskap from OSU

June 1, 2011 "the berries are grass green yet but man are the plants putting on new growth. some have at least a foot of new growth." doug

2010 foto, Cornelius, OR - Berries on 2 year old haskap from OSU

"japanese haskap propagated in 2008. planted in 2009. when i bought the plants from the Oregon State University they were in six inch pots and about 15 inches tall.  they grew and were very healthy. after i planted them they started to get this browning of the leaves. the browning will get so bad that the plants lose most leaves and go into a dormancy in june.  i am leaning towards powdery mildew but i don't really see any white dust coating any of the leaf top or bottom.  these plants were started from cuttings and they are only identified by number i believe i have 6 different kinds. plants are on drip irrigation. fetilized using 16-16-16 and hazelnut shells (1/2 gal bucket/plant). this year will try Miracle Grow. i just want to make it clear that this is my problem that i have not seen on any other OSU plants." Doug, Cornelius, OR

Zone 6b - New Jersey - March 28, 2011

Blue Moon, approx 2 years old, zone 6b NJ, March 28, 2011

At the end of the summer last year I bought a Blue Moon honeyberry bush from a local nursery because it was 60% off. After a couple weeks its leaves turned brown and fell off. The bush pretty much looked dead so I just put it off to the side and forgot about it. This morning I went out to check on my  fruit plants and to my surprise the Blue Moon has large green buds all over! Matt, NJ

First Year Tundra, New Jersey zone 6b, July 2010

This Tundra arrived in New Jersey on June 6, 2010, and after a couple of days of being hardened off, was set out in a mixture of 1 part organic soil mix, 1 part construction sand, and 1 part pine bark mulch (just what I happened to have on hand) with a ph level of 6.5-6.8. It did well over the summer, though didn't grow much more. Around March 20, 2011 it started to break dormancy with many buds that started to swell. Matt, NJ

Zone 8 - Texas - First haskap of spring

Borealis, Tundra and Berry Blue were reported to be leafing out the last week of February in zone 8, just south of Ft. Worth, Texas: "Yes, they are leafing out right now.  I noticed them about three days ago, coming out before anything else.  They were exposed to the weather (south side of a barn), but the ambient temperature was about 6 degrees, two different nights, and below freezing for a week. Daytime temps now in the 80s. The real question is how they do from July 15-Sept 15.  Ask me again in November." Daniel, TX

Haskap/Honeyberry for sale

Haskap - Honeyberry - Zhimolost plants for sale!!!

Now taking orders for a May 2011 shipping of Canadian haskap. Also taking orders for the Berry Blue Honeyberry pollinizer bush.

$15/plant*

*local pickup, USPS/UPS shipping extra, bulk discounts available upon request for 10 plants or more.

Place your order at:

If you understand French, or even if you don't, check out this CBC Saskatchewan Haskap Interview - Oct 12 at 34.13 min mark featuring hobby grower Clayton Wiebe and Dr. Bob Bors from the U of S. Here is a brief translation of the report:

"The report said there is another, new fruit for the farmers of Saskatchewan to grow and more and more farmers are interested in it.  It will find its place in supermarkets.  One farmer has grown them for 4 years.  He said it tastes something like a cross between a raspberry and a blueberry with a zing to the taste.  There is more interest because of its resilience and hardiness.

They interviewed an academic, Dr. Bob Bors, from the U of S who has had contact with people from Czech, Sweden, Russia, Siberia, Finland, Japan. 

In the final segment, Clayton said there is an unexploited market for the berry. There has been a recent discovery of its possibilities. He was shown with recipes cooking them in his kitchen and with jars of them preserved.  He said you have to cover the plants with nets because they have had problems with birds." Collin, SK

Tracking haskap in the USA

Where are haskap being grown in the USA? We are especially interesting in tracking plants from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. But any comments on Edible Blue Honeysuckle are welcome! Honeyberry, as it is known in the USA, zhimolost in Russia - we'd like to hear from you! Let us know in the comment section your state, or province or country, the variety, and how your plants are doing (age, productivity, etc).

We will start off by saying that in September of 2010, we planted 115 Tundra and Borealis haskap from Saskatchewan, Canada, along with 11 of their recommended pollinizer honeyberry, Berry Blue, from Oregon. Shrubs were also sent to North Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Oregon. 25 other Minnesotans received plants from us so it should be interesting to see how they all do in 2011!

For more information, and if you wonder how this all got started, click here.