Years ago, I was introduced to honeyberries (known to me as haskap berries) via a delicious jam from the province of Saskatchewan. Little did I know back then that growing honeberries is pretty easy. Though it’s not a fruit commonly known in North America, the shrubs thrive in most of the U.S. and Canada—even Alaska—and make a beautiful garden addition. Once established, the plants can produce for 30 years or more.

With a flavor that can be described as a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry—with a bit of a zing—honeyberries are versatile and delicious additions to a landscape. Also called haskaps (as I know them), blue honeysuckle, and sweet berry honeysuckle, you might be able to guess that honeyberries (Lonicera caerulea) are a member of the honeysuckle family. The blue, spindle-shaped honeyberry grows on attractive, deciduous, perennial bushes. In this article, I’ll share some cultivation and care tips, as well as how to harvest ripe honeberries.

What is a honeyberry?

The honeyberry has a thin skin, like a blueberry, and tiny seeds, like a kiwi. With a deep-blue color, it has more vitamin C and antioxidants than even blueberries.

These oddly shaped perennial berries are among the easiest to grow in northern regions. The earliest-maturing haskap berries ripen even before spring strawberries. By early summer, you’ll have flexed your kitchen creativity, as their plentiful production means you’ll have enough for making jams, juice, wine, syrups, and more.

The best climates for growing honeyberries

You’ll find success growing honeyberries in USDA zones 1-8. As plants native to the boreal forests of Asia and North America, honeyberries are extremely cold hardy. Even the shrub’s dainty spring flowers appear before the last frost.

Know your growing zone, as each honeyberry variety will have its own ideal range. Some require chill hours—the cumulative time spent between 32° and 45°F (0° to 7°C)—of 1,000 to 1,200 hours or more. This forced period of rest is the plant’s innate cue to remain in dormancy during a mid-winter warmup rather than to be fooled into thinking an early spring has sprung.

Where to plant honeyberry bushes

Consider growing honeyberries as part of your regular home landscape. These easy-to-manage shrubs typically grow 3 to 6 feet tall, have abundant foliage, and feature beautiful yellowish-white flowers in the spring. They make great hedges that offer both privacy and fruit.

Unlike growing blueberries, growing honeyberries requires no special soil treatment. They’ll grow in well-drained soil with a pH of 5.5 to 8. Honeyberries can tolerate lightly clay soil, but amend it first with a good amount of compost to boost nutrients and drainage.

In warmer climates, honeyberry bushes will appreciate partial shade, while in colder climates, they are looking for full sun. Just be sure to plant them in a space large enough to accommodate at least two bushes.

Why you need two or more varieties when growing honeyberries

Honeyberry bushes are self-incompatible, meaning they need two or more different cultivars for cross pollination to set fruit. Those cultivars need to bloom at the same time so pollinators can visit the flowers of one, then the other.
When selecting your honeyberry cultivars, think about their need for pollination. Bees and other pollinators should be active during the time that your honeyberries are blooming.

More research has been dedicated to honeyberries since the early 2000s. The University of Saskatchewan is a leader in this research. Along with other universities, as well as plant breeders, they have released a number of varieties for gardeners to customize their honeyberry landscape. From shrubs growing as large as 8 feet to those producing succulent 1½” long berries, you have options to keep things interesting.

When to harvest honeyberries

Growing honeyberries requires a little bit of patience. Plants will produce a few fruits in the first and second year, but it won’t be until years three and four that production really kicks in.

The exact ripening time depends on your climate and the varieties you’ve chosen. In warmer climates, you can harvest honeyberries in the spring. If you’re gardening in Alaska, for example, your plants will fruit in June and July.

Caring for haskap bushes

As if having tasty, early berries and lovely landscaping shrubs weren’t enough reasons for growing honeyberries, another reason why honeyberries should be on North American gardeners’ radar is that they’re not bothered by too many pests or diseases.

Insect pests are generally not active early in the season, during fruit set. Deer might eat young growth, but will leave older, woody plants alone. Birds can be a problem—especially pesky cedar waxwings—during fruiting. Consider some type of bird netting to protect your berries from hungry birds.

Later in the summer, powdery mildew can affect the honeyberry leaves. This clears up by the time the plant starts fruiting again and shouldn’t impact production. You can also look for powdery mildew-resistant varieties, if you know this is an issue in your garden.

The top honeyberry cultivars

One caution when growing honeyberries: Flavor, cold hardiness, fruit quality, and growth habit are all dependent on the variety. Be sure you understand which characteristics to expect from the varieties you choose. Because honeyberry production requires two varieties that flower at the same time, some nurseries offer cultivar pairs to reduce your guesswork.

There are several honeyberry cultivars you might consider:

• Honeybee honeyberry shrubs pair well with the Tundra, Borealis, and Indigo varieties for pollination. They grow 4 to 6 feet tall.
• Tundra honeyberry shrubs grow only to 4 or 5 feet tall, and are suited for small yards. Producing firm fruits, this variety is often used in commercial production.
• Borealis is said to be the best-tasting honeyberry variety. At 4 feet tall, it’s also a good small-space choice.
• Indigo Gem, at 5 to 6 feet, offers smaller, tangier fruit than other varieties and is a heavy producer.
• Kamtschatica is a cultivar developed in Russia, growing 5 to 6 feet tall and producing an abundance of large, dark-blue fruit.

Additional tips for growing honeyberries in a home garden

Honeyberries are low-maintenance plants, but they’re not quite no-maintenance. Prune these shrubs every two to three years, just after the harvest. This will allow them to maintain an attractive shape and also to continue producing at their best.

Honeyberry bushes appreciate mulch, as most plants do, to reduce competition from weeds, to provide some insulation to the root system during the coldest months, and to maintain moisture retention. They’re surprisingly drought-tolerant after their root systems become established.

Given this fruit’s hardy, low-maintenance, tasty, and healthful attributes, it’s hard to believe that home gardeners across the Northern Hemisphere are just now catching on to honeyberries.

Because it takes a few years for honeyberries to ramp up their production, the time to plant is now! When you’re still harvesting these big berries 20 years from now, you’ll be glad you finally got started.

More berry-growing tips

• Growing various berries in containers
• Growing strawberries in pots
• Growing strawberries in raised beds
• When to transplant strawberries
• How to grow alpine strawberries
• Transplanting raspberries
• Feeding blueberry bushes
• How to prune blueberries
• Freezing berries

Main image and pin images by Lisa Munniksma