Late season Honeyberries for sale now at Honeyberry USA

I had to contact Honeyberry USA today because an order I placed in January that was suppossed to ship on April 1 hasn’t shipped. They were very nice, very apologetic, explained that it was an accidental glitch on their end and promised to send my plants immediately and even upgrade the size when possible to make up for their error. So I am ok with that- accidents happen and they seem to be genuine in their efforts to correct it. If not I’ll repost here.

Anyway, the nice lady who wrote me back said that since I seemed to be interested in lots of fruits, She wanted to let me know that they just now started selling some “late” honey berries (Haskaps) that are more hardy/frost resistant and that there has been a lot of interest and orders for them. They just started selling them and will ship until April 25. They are Japanese varieties called Solo and Maxie with a tradename of “Yezberries”. Now, their web site says the bloom 7-14 days later than other haskaps, so I’m not sure I’d call that “late” but it is “late-er” and 1-2 weeks can be a world of difference in terms of frost, as you all know.

Anyway, I don’t know if these are a big deal or not, but she made it sound like it was so I thought I’d pass the info on to you folks in case you are interested.

http://honeyberryusa.com/honeyberry-plants-1.html#lateseason

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I just ordered some last night. They sound great, as do all new introductions of fruit, of course.

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I mentioned them already, but more will see it now. I was on the mailing list as to when one could order. So about 2 weeks ago I ordered them. Probably almost gone by now! Oh I guess it was 20 days ago

Sorry Drew…missed your post. Glad people are seeing them though. As of today she said they still have them in stock.

BTW, did you see my question to you and link on another thread about the new black beauty tomatoes at Baker Creek? If you already mentioned those also, I’m sorry again! If not, I thought they might be something you’d be interested in. Much darker than other purple/black tomatoes. But they seem to be sold out now!

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I never tried that one. Thanks for the link! This place is becoming very busy so it’s easy to miss stuff! Yeah I need to find a good purple variety. I will try this down the road. I’ll ask about it at tomatoville where the experts are!

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Hirt’s has the same Yezberries for ~$5 cheaper per plant, with cheaper shipping, just FYI.

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I have bought stuff from Hirts, sometimes small, but plants were alive.

I believe all Yezberries at this time are sourced from Proven Winners, so they should be the same as the Honeyberries plants. Mine were healthy and happy looking.

I don’t mind paying extra to Honeyberries. A mom and pop store unlike Hirts. They have some very cool stuff and a fairly new nursery, hope they stay around. For example they have Tiben the Polish black currant which is the most productive currant I know of, and I never seen it elsewhere. The Romance series cherries are there too. Postage is steep at $20,00 but I added, 2 currants, still 20 bucks, I added 2 more honeyberries still 20 bucks (they refunded me $40.00).
So 6 plants for 20 bucks, that is a fair postal rate.
Speaking of Polish currants if anybody knows of any other sources for them please speak up! I’m looking for Tines it is almost as productive as Tiben, and has a larger berry.

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I hope my luck is as good as yours Cityman. I ordered in mid Dec, 2015 and have not yet received my HoneyberryUSA order here in Zone 6B. After 3 emails and leaving a phone message for Honeyberry, I got a standard email today saying the weather was putting them behind, and they hoped to be digging and shipping this week. It wasn’t a large order, just 2 large Carmine Jewel and 1 large Juliet Dwarf Cherry but I have heard good things about HoneyberryUSA, and I had high hopes. The weather here seems to have settled into a warm Spring finally, and I have a bed prepared for the Cherries, now just a waiting game and hoping for large, healthy plants that arrive before the weather turns hot. I have not contributed here since joining, as I have been recovering from back surgery but have learned a great deal from others kindly sharing knowledge. Hope I receive my order soon, will share pictures of how they arrive! Greg

The Romance cherries are usually quite small, but they will take off. HoneyberryUSA responds to me immediately although maybe because we got talking a few times and they know who I am.
Their are only a few people who work there, it is truly a mom and pop operation. The nursery is only 6 years old.

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I am extremely surprised to hear of your experience. Like Drews, mine has been outstanding since I called and reminded them that I had an order that should have shipped. She sent me a really nice email and then called me BOTH. My order was about $300 so that could have helped, but I didn’t get that feeling. It is obvious that they are a mom and pop, small, less than high tech place- which I’m fine with.

As for whether they kept their word this time and got my order moving…they DID. 3 days after I emailed them, my plants arrived fed ex TODAY. Now, I will say that they were all VERY VERY small plants. To tell you HOW small, picture those little plastic 4-packs that you can buy tomatoes or petunias or other small plants. Now if you could somehow seperate those 4-packs by cutting them apart into the seperate cups, that is the size of the root ball and dirt that the plants were in, and the plants were around 12 inches tall, though some were longer. This applies to the saskatons and haskaps (honeyberries). The Romance Cherries had a rootball about the size of a baseball and had a thick bundle of limbs that were all around 12-15 inches.

These may sound too small, but honesty I was pleased. I knew their size and it was as big or bigger than what I ordered. Perhaps more importantly, even though they were small, they all looked very very healthy. They all had big green leaf BUDS or small, newly emerging leaves. In short, they all look healthy and i see no reason why they won’t establish and begin to grow. I will keep you posted, but I’m satisfied so far.

I ordered some of their larger size Carmine Jewel cherries last fall and they really were a decent size. I planted them in the late fall and one of them actually flowered profusely this spring. I am waiting to see if it might set a few cherries this first year in the ground.

I am also waiting on a variety of other things I have ordered in smaller sizes. Initially they lost my order but were apologetic when I reminded them and say things will be here soon. I will report when they arrive.

Last year I’d organized a group buy for around seven friends and family that was for several Carmine Jewel and Honeyberry plants from HBUSA.

We’d decided on the medium sized CJ’s that were potted to keep the cost down, and I already knew from experience that they size up really quick.

Anyway, when it was close to shipping time Bernis sent me an email asking if I would mind if they upgraded my order to the large bare root plants. (I think they had an excess if I recall)

So she sent me several boxes of really big nice bare root CJ’s for the cost of the little potted ones.

I think they’ll do right by you, they’re good folks.

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Thanks Drew51, I’ve found that personal recommendation is the best measure of where to buy. I’d rather wait a bit longer and support a growing, Mom and Pop operation than a Corporate Nursery. I should be a bit more patient! Greg

Thanks Cityman, for the reassurance. I sent a note to Bernis just now asking for a shipping notice and let them know that they have solid supporters here. I’m in the Ohio River Valley, S. Indiana, and our weather has been highs of 75-85 and lows in the high 60s, and I like to have dormant plants in the ground before now. I’m glad you commented on size, I can brace myself for small, well rooted plants that may not be as large as ordered. Because of my lot size and physical limitations, the Romance Cherries are the last on my list for right now, but as I learn more here I may try my hand at grafting next year to try and add a few more varieties without devoting more space. I just need to find room for a few plums! Will be patient with HoneyberryUSA. Greg

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I think in the end you’ll be pleased- small plants or not. Good luck. BTW…you should go and put your location on the map. If you are in southern Indiana, you’d probably be the second closest person to me, even though I’m in TN. I’m also in the Ohio Valley and I’m right on the TN/KY state line. If you haven’t seen the map, here it is:

I stopped by Honeyberry USA on April 5. Its was snowing with a nice snow
covering on there road and yard. They are truly delightful people and a true family operation. Bernis was wearing a cast on her foot so she is definitely slowed down
until that is removed. I picked up a large order of Haskaps which I took back to
Alaska. I did not look at them until I repacked them for shipping on Airline and they
were the best quality and largest Haskaps I have ever purchased.

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My order from honeyberries is coming at the end of the month. And yeah Bernis seems super nice. We chatted via email about a lot of fruit. I was going to dig up my honeyberries at my cottage this weekend, but decided to just take cuttings. See if I can do anything with them. I’m going to stick them in soil for now. If they fail, I’ll try humidity etc.

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Cityman, you are absolutely right, I need to fill in a complete profile, and will do it ASAP. I’m in Evansville IN, on the IN/KY Stateline, so I must be straight north of you. My back issues seem to slow me down on everything since the last surgery, I work to the end of my endurance(mediocre) and then collapse. But good news! Today I received my order from HoneyberryUSA, and you were right about the quality. I ordered 2 Carmine Jewel and 1 Juliet, HoneyberryUSA mailed my order on April 18th, I received it at 4pm today, I had a pleasant surprise. The Carmine Jewels were quite large, at least 36inches with one having a 1 inch diameter, and the other 3/4 inch diameter, and both with enormous root balls and very heavily branched. The Juliet was about 16 inches, and also well rooted. All 3 Cherries are at the perfect stage to plant, breaking dormancy with swollen green buds barely visible. Since this is my first encounter with the Dwarf bushes, I’m not sure if these are flower buds or vegetative, but given the size I would not be surprised if they have at least a few blooms. I had been working outside too long when they arrived, and only had the steam to unbox, inspect, and get them in buckets of water. I seldom soak anything more than 6 hours, and these were well packed with very slightly damp roots, and I’m not able to plant them until the morning. I know cherries hate wet feet, but do you or any reader see anything harmful if I don’t plant these until Thursday AM. That would be soaking from 4:30pm today until 8am, total 16 hours. Sound OK? Thanks for encouraging me to be patient, the HoneyberryUSA order was worth the wait. Greg.