So I have some of the early bloom ones in 7b … And they are starting to get quite unhappy right now from the heat and the sun (over 90 past few days). They also woke up at the end of February for me this year to my surprise (I thought they fried to death last year). 1 has leaf scorch (I think it might be tundra, but I’m not sure, I mixed 2 of my 3 up) but Aurora and I think indigo gem leaves aren’t scotching yet, but they have basically stopped growing.
From what I’ve heard/read. Get the late bloom varieties, and you’ll likely need shade cloth or plant them where they will be shaded from the extreme midday sun. I’m trying to figure out how to do shade cloth for mine without the HOA throwing a fit.
I think Honeyberry is like Currants in 8b. Not advisable. I have come to the same conclusion on Nanking Cherries. The plants are really wilting and browning out leaves now.
Zone 8 only refers to how cold it gets, not now hot. Currents do well in PNW zone 8 for example. I trust you that they don’t in your Georgia zone 8 though.
Thanks for the ping! Yes I am trialing a bunch and so far they seem to be fine and I’m seeing some new shoot growth on most if not all!
Here are the varieties I’m trying:
I ended up planting them all in 10gal containers with Gary’s Top Pot with a layer of wood ash per the recco on the Honeyberry thread and I mixed in some chicken compost on the top and then mulched them with some dried pea stalks I had saved as mulch. Once those decompose, I’ll replace with hay. I had 4 plants that were really tiny so I put them 2 to a 10 gal pot with the plan to separate and repot them this winter.
Since I got them bare root, and they had already received the right amount of chill but maybe were thrown off by my weirder weather plus the fact that it took me quite long to pot them up, I didn’t get a lot of honeyberries but my Keiko still set about 20 berries and I’ve been trying one or two every few days. Still a bit sour. Will try again in a few days.
I have them in a narrow corridor on the North East side of the house where they get some morning Sun but are mostly shaded otherwise by the walls.
Our house basically faces East with a slight angle.
Thanks so for the feedback. My goal is to have fruit for as many weeks of the year as possible. I was/ am hoping that honey berries can be part of that.
I am sure that I will kill many wonderful trees and bushes over the next years.
I’m kinda like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I just can’t wait.
Trip south delayed a couple weeks as we are waiting on a part for the drill rig. Still should get well drilled in July and house started.
I have 8 honey berries I put in ground this year in Reno. It’s been over 90 degrees almost every day for close to a month now. My plants are showing no signs of stress.
So - one year later …. I’m strongly considering saying good bye to all my honeyberries.
They grew OK. Had a bunch of flowers. But set like 3-5 fruit across 8 plants and of those, I got to eat 1. I am considering using the space for something that produces here.
Just adding another data point. Honeyberries have not done well here in humid Zone 7A/B. They are unhappy by late June and defoliate in July. Despite being fairly protected from direct afternoon sun. They never quite thrive long enough to get bigger. I have tried the Maxine Japanese hybrids and the newer Canadian varieties. It’s a shame because what little fruit I get is enjoyable.
I’m over in Montgomery county, I have Aurora, indigo gem and tundra and all 3 of them don’t like our lovely swampy weather and are very slow growing they come back every year tho. I wasn’t very impressed with the few berries I got before the birds took them all (I picked too early and didn’t net) so I’m giving them until this coming spring to wow me lol.
I’m late to respond to this. I’m just north of you in the St. George, UT area. I tried 3 different Honeyberries two years ago, with shade cloth and afternoon shade and they all died. You probably have better soil than we do, but the dry heat of 110+ for several weeks is just too much for most things. However, if you don’t know of them yet, a great resource for you will be Edge of Nowhere Farm outside of Phoenix. They are doing miracles in the desert where fruit is concerned and if you have the room and water that they do you might have some success.
What does well for us here are peaches, pomegranates, goji berries and figs. I’m trying nectarines, apples, pears, apricots, and plums. I need to get them another year bigger so they can start to shade themselves. Our soil is non-existent - all caliche. The nursery said to dig a huge hole and replace ALL of the native soil with bagged mix! Can’t quite afford that, but I have also had to replace a few trees in the first year that didn’t make it, too, so the bagged soil might be the less costly route!
If you eat a lot of fruits/veggies. You can always bury your scraps in the ground/start a compost pile. Will take awhile but more cost effective since it’s stuff your tossing anyway
Thank you for the mention. Absolutely, just the two of us with our double barrel composter can barely make much soil amendment since we also share the scraps with the chickens (and use their poop too!).
was 92 with heat index today.
…. I’m strongly considering saying good bye to all my honeyberries.