Just acquired my second and third variety of Maxine Thompson’s. Appears one has probably set some buds for next spring already. And the one I’ve had for a year and a half also likely to bloom next spring. These are late ones. So, I’ll have early mid and late bloomers next year. Aurora is the variety I have plenty of if they do well here.
None of my current varieties have defoliated this year…though Czech 17/Berry Blue looks sort of ragged.
Also, once I get enough berries, I shall also probably try growing out some seedlings.
i got my solo from hirts 2 years ago as a 4in. plug for $7 delivered. i put it strait in ground in a spot that gets shade from 1:30 on and its 16in. tall now. should see fruit next summer. honeyberries grow so fast here. they are even more vigorous than my best blueberries.
i have 2 aurora / indigo gem seedlings im growing out. they are about 12in tall and might fruit next summer. ill report on how they taste and growth habit on here. im hoping theyre more erect than indigo gem and more like Aurora in taste and production also. i also have a aurora growing near a honeybee on the other side of the yard im going to try to grow out the seeds of. no guarantee the bees didnt carry some pollen from the indigo gem on the other side of the property so ill grow out maybe 4 from 4 different berries off the bush and see what i get.
you need some northern Maine bumbles down there. they are out in 50f weather pollinating my honeyberries and feeding off the willow flowers in late April. you must have some early bumbles there?
The first two years they budded and leafed out early spring… but by june or july lost most of their leaves… i thought they were going to kick the bucket.
In year 3 they finally grew a little and kept more leaves.
In year 4… they finally fruited.
They were mostly just tart… a little juicy and tart… no detectable sweetness.
Yes I tried letting them hang on the bush a week or more after they turned blue… but the problem with that is that my birds would not wait. They got the majority.
Also… i got later blooming varieties since late frosts are a real problem here… and they ripened later too… i had strawberries ripening way b4 my honeyberries.
Dissapointed in how long it took them to fruit, in what they tasted like, the fact that birds would always get many more than i would… and that they were no where near my first ripe fruit.
I mix them with black raspberries and make a syrup. Honey berry syrup requires a lot of sugar. Black raspberry syrup is so sweet it’s flavorless. Mixed together it’s one of the best syrups I make. Also honeyberries in flips and crisps are darn good! Not so much for fresh eating. I have strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries for that. I’m about to have my morning blueberries right now! Sometimes I have them in yogurt, today with oatmeal. It’s great I get fresh blueberries for about two months. Nice to have a mix of early and late ripeners.
@BlueBerry … i would have gladly sent them to you.
PS… this year… i whacked my jujubes down and tossed them in the woods. I am still fighting the mass of root suckers they are sending up. I am determined… they might as well give up.
Good luck. Hope it’s better than my 32 year effort to get rid of American wild plum…roots keep sprouting up 10 or 20 feet from the plants last sprayed with 2 4-d.
If anyone’s interested the University of Saskatchewan has done a ton of work/breeding with varieties from all over the world and have come up with better varieties. Can’t post a link, but if you search U of S Haskap or U of S fruit program you should find the info.
We finally broke down and planted some this year. One’s I’ve tasted were not sour, but not really sweet, kind of meaty. Not great, but not bad either. (kind of neutral?)
Just fyi, went with Boreal Blizzard and Beast as a pollinator. Planted them for daughters market garden/orchard venture and simply it’s another kind of fruit that will grow and produce here.
both of those are good but i highly recommended aurora. its got a good tang to it that the others dont and is slightly sweeter. nice big, productive bush and huge berries by the 3-4th year. i had very good crops from the romance series cherries from them as well. Romeo, Juliet and carmine jewel. made the 1st pie from them this summer and it was the best cherry pie ive ever tasted.
So, after successfully breeding Aurora, Blizzard, Beauty and Beast, have they shut down the research program? Or has there just been no improved varieties since 6 or so years ago …
Beast, Beauty, Blizzard, Aurora???
Oh no, the program has pumped out a bunch more improved varieties!!!
It’s just that us Canucks won’t let you Yanks have them until you release all your new improved Pluot varieties to us up here in the Great White North.
I’m getting a pretty good harvest from 3 Goji berry plants. I’d rather have a pint of honeyberries than a gallon of Goji. I’m still gaining experience with honeyberries–but the varieties I have less interest in, I sell for ‘edible landscaping’.
Definitely not putting them on a brush pile.
We have Juliet and Crimson Passion. The Juliet’s are juuuusst starting to produce, hoping to see some CP’s next year.
Decades ago I tried Evans. Bright red, yellow inside. To my taste if you wanted them sweeter you could dip them in lemon juice before eating.
Yes, I currently have 4 of the U of Sask. varieties,
and 4 of Maxine’s varieties finally,
and at least a couple from Arkansas.
Need more time to figure out the best ones…but none of mine are going on any brush piles.
