Been looking for this info Richard. Thank you. I’m Z10 as well in CA and get hotter for a bit most years.
I’m still very tempted to buy some and keep them in a pot in the shade and see what I get but it seems like a bad idea right now.
The real test will be summer, but they got dormant enough to bloom in my shaded spot. I’ll try to keep em cool enough during summer, I’m accustomed to zone pushing just usually push the other way haha. Now I can see a few berries are hanging, hope they will hold a couple
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Nice!!! How many hours of chill do you get? And what variety was this? Exciting!
Who knows, I think chill hours are impossible to calculate. Especially depending upon varying microclimates. The 3 varieties I have are Solo, Keiko and Strawberry Sensation. All from Honeyberriesusa
They are under a giant live oak so very sheltered, using shade to help them live here, and so far they a thriving. Planted around October 23’ so likely they got a good amount of chill in Minnesota before they got here.
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Mid-Missouri zone 6b. I have Boreal-Beast, Boreal Beauty and Aurora Honeyberries. They are all young plants, all planted Nov 2020; now 24 inches tall. They all sun burn and loose all their leaves in late summer but it does not seem to hurt the bushes except maybe grow slower. The berries taste close to the same but I have not had many to eat.
Two things I need to do better;
- Use a bird net over each plant.
- Install a 40% shadecloth at mid summer to protect the leaves.
The Aurora started blooming March 12 and the others two days later. All are still blooming. All of the fruit trees and bushes have bloomed 2-3 weeks earlier this year than the past two years. The honeyberries started blooming April 8, 2022 and on March 31, 2023.
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I’m in Maryland 7b and planted mine last year. They got hit with mildew and dropped leaves in end of June I think. Figured they were dead. Then they put out a ton of new growth this spring and bloomed at the end of Feb (one of them) I was shocked I figured they were fried from the south facing wall they are on. Pretty resilient! Have a few tiny green nubs(berries!) I plan on protecting with my life!
I’m probably gonna do the shade cloth as well. So they don’t get crispy fried again. I also need to look into netting but my plants are like 8 inches high lol
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Yea that makes sense. Got it. It might be the chill from Minnesota then. I’m super hopeful for you though.
Unfortunately these plants aren’t small and cheap and don’t produce quickly.
Looking forward to following your story here!
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If I get them, I’m going to put them in pots in a narrow space on the north east side of the house near our boundary wall. That area gets some morning sun, but then is shaded all day because of the house. I’m assuming you have them in full Sun?
Yes, SoCal, mine are in full sun. I think that your morning sun would work fine.
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Thanks!
Considering getting the following and would love any feedback. I tried to choose the varieties based on notes here, availability, and pollination though I’m not sure I did it right:
Aurora
Blue banana
Boreal Blizzard
Indigo Gem
These are all from honeyberryusa.
I haven’t placed the order yet. Wanted to check before I did.
Thanks!
Just noticed this faq answer on honeyberryusa:
**What are the chill hours needed for honeyberries?
Later blooming plants with Japanese genetics require as low as 400-500 (per reports from northern New Zealand) but early blooming plants require more.
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Yeah I got all Japanese variety. The ones you’ve picked are Russian varieties I think, and likely more of an uphill battle
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I’m in 7b and I have tundra and indigo gem. They both dropped leaves by I think July (they got roasted in full south facing sun. If your in z10 you’ll probably need some shade cloth based off my experience from last year if they are going to get baked like mine did. I honestly thought they all died until they shot out growth in Feb.
I’m gonna do shade cloth and water them a lot better come June - Aug here.
Will you have enough temps below … I think it’s 40 or 45 degrees for chill hours? I can totally be wrong tho ! So someone please feel free to chime in !
I have an Aurora on order from HBU as well 
I’m also in zone 7a/b and most of my honeyberries defoliate in very hot and dry summers. Except for Leningradskij Velikan and Duet both of which have rounder fuzzy leaves. I think the drought (and wind combo) is the problem.
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Yea it’s definitely going to be an experiment. We get about 200-300 “chill hours” here… so yea 
But I plan to keep them in a cool/shady area that only gets a bit of morning sun. And have them on an automatic drip irrigation system and in pots. Let’s see what happens
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Makes sense. I’ll switch varieties around and post. No point getting the Russian varieties here most likely.
I’m surprised the Russian varieties don’t have lower chill requirements than the Japanese varieties. Really high latitudes don’t accumulate much chill since it’s below freezing most of the winter.
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Thick mulch should also help. Mine seem to be happier with a double layer of whole pine cones sourced at the local park.
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