Honeyberry

Honeyberry: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Low, slightly spreading bush of 1–2 m.

Leaf

Opposite, oblong-elliptic, 3–8 cm, untoothed, dull green and slightly hairy.

Bark

Reddish-brown, peeling in long strips.

Flower

Yellowish-white, funnel-shaped flowers (1–1.5 cm) in pairs in the leaf axils, March–April; they tolerate some frost.

Fruit

Elongated, blue berries with a waxy bloom (1–3 cm), May–June; sweet-sour, a little like blueberries.

Difference from fly honeysuckle

Fly honeysuckle has hairy, greyish-green leaves and red, poisonous berries in pairs.

Difference from highbush blueberry

Highbush blueberry has alternate leaves, white bells in clusters and round berries, and grows only on acid soil.

Flowering: March–April · Harvest and fruit: May–June · Pruning: July and November–February

Identify by feature: Blue berries

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Fly honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum): hairy, greyish-green leaves and red, poisonous berries in pairs.
• Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum: alternate leaves, white bells in clusters and round berries; only on acid soil. Difference from highbush blueberry

Why grow it?

• The first berries of the year, in May–June: fresh, in jam, juice or smoothies.
• Flowers as early as March: early nectar for queen bumblebees.
• Very hardy and seldom troubled by disease.
• Stays small (1–2 m) and also crops in partial shade.

Honeyberry: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; in the sun you get the most and sweetest berries.
• Any ordinary, humus-rich garden soil that neither dries out nor becomes waterlogged.
• Allow about 1.5 m width per bush.
• Plant two varieties within a few metres of each other, so that bumblebees and bees carry pollen back and forth.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

1.5 m tall, 1.5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Highbush blueberry: Takes over the harvest: after honeyberries in May–June come blueberries from July to September. Do give the blueberry acid soil.
• Gooseberry: Likes the same ordinary garden soil and partial shade; gooseberries in July, after the honeyberries.
• Blackcurrant: Together a fruit corner that crops from May to July.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Suits the woodland edge or the light shade of: ginkgo, box elder, ash, honey locust, field maple, silver maple

Honeyberry: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, bare-root or from a pot.
2. Plant at least two different varieties that flower at the same time: a single variety gives hardly any berries.
3. Space the bushes 1–1.5 m apart and mix compost into the soil.
4. Plant at the same depth as before and water in well.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year, and later as the berries swell in May–June.

Mulching

A layer of compost or leaves in spring keeps the soil cool and moist.

Birds

Put a net over the bushes as soon as the berries turn blue: blackbirds love them.

Harvest

A berry is only ripe when it is purple right through; blue on the outside is not enough. Wait another week or two after they colour, and taste.

Tip: Cut a berry in half before you harvest: if it is still green inside, wait another week. Picked too early it is sour; fully ripe it is sweet and juicy.

Honeyberry: when to prune it?

Pruning months: July and November–February.

When: After the harvest (July) or in winter.

How:

• Prune little in the first few years: just remove dead, weak and low-lying branches.
• After that, remove a few of the oldest, least productive branches at the base every year, so the bush stays open.
• The berries form mainly on last year’s shoots: keep these and don’t shorten them.

Caution: Don’t clip the bush into a ball: you would remove the young shoots carrying next year’s flower buds.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Softwood cuttings

In June, take soft tip cuttings of 10–15 cm, remove the lower leaves and let them root in cutting compost under plastic.

Layering

Bend a low branch to the ground and cover it with soil; after a year it will have roots.

Honeyberry: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Very hardy: it comes from regions with severe winters.
• It comes into growth early and flowers as early as March; the flowers tolerate a few degrees of frost.

Diseases and pests

• Few or no berries: Usually only one variety has been planted, or the varieties don’t flower at the same time. Add a second, compatible variety.
• Birds: Blackbirds and starlings take the early berries. A net helps.
• Mildew: A white coating on the leaves in late summer, after the harvest; usually harmless. Clear up fallen leaves.
• Aphids: Curled leaves at the shoot tips in spring. Let ladybirds and tits do their work.

Through the year

• January: Winter pruning: remove the oldest branches at the base.
• February: Last winter pruning.
• March: Flowering: early nectar for bumblebees; add compost.
• April: End of flowering; the berries set.
• May: Berries turn blue; net over the bushes.
• June: Harvest: cut a berry in half to check it is purple inside.
• July: Last berries; prune after the harvest.
• November: Planting; winter pruning can begin.
• December: Winter pruning.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Early berries (May–June), fresh, in jam, juice or smoothies.

For wildlife

Flowers as early as March: early nectar for queen bumblebees.

Caution: Plant at least two different varieties for pollination. Don’t confuse it with other honeysuckles: their berries are poisonous.

Edible and useful

Berries (May–June)

Pick the berries from mid-May to the end of June, as soon as they are dark blue and purple-red inside: the skin turns blue while the flesh is still green and sour. Ripe berries come off easily and often drop by themselves; spread a cloth under the bush and shake gently. Pick every two or three days, because they do not all ripen at once. Hang netting against the birds, which arrive early.

Storing

Ripe berries keep for a week in the fridge. Freeze them in a single layer on a tray and then tip them into a bag: they will not clump together and can go straight into a cake or jam. Jam keeps for a year and syrup for six months in sterilised jars and bottles.

Caution: Only eat the blue, oblong, bloomy berries of the honeyberry itself (Lonicera caerulea). The berries of other honeysuckles, such as fly honeysuckle (Lonicera xylosteum), common honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) and most ornamental honeysuckles, are red, orange or black and poisonous: never eat them. Ripe honeyberries are blue outside and purple-red inside; unripe ones are green inside and sour. Do not pick from sprayed bushes, and never eat anything you have not identified with certainty.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Honeyberry jam (Jam · ± 5 jars of 250 ml · 40 min)
• Honeyberry syrup (Syrup · ± 600 ml · 30 min + 1 hr draining)
• Honeyberry muffins (Dish · 12 muffins · 45 min)

Did you know?

• One of the earliest berries of the year: often ripe in May, before the first strawberries.
• The name haskap comes from the language of the Ainu, the indigenous people of Hokkaido in northern Japan.
• It belongs to the honeysuckle family, not the blueberry family: just look at the opposite leaves and the flowers in pairs.