The Haskap Have Landed!

After months of planning, it was very exciting this past week to receive a box of Berry Blue pollinizer plants in 2 1/4" pots and several boxes of Tundra and Borealis from Canada, in 2 1/2" pots. The picture below shows the best plants, with the Tundra on the left reaching 15" in height. The majority of the Canadian haskap were entering dormancy and lost most of their leaves during the trip, but a couple plants held on long enough to show me how lovely they can be! The Berry Blue Honeyberry were more consistent in size and not as close to dormancy. (See August 12, 2010 posting for an explanation of haskap/honeyberry plants).

Tundra from Canada, Berry Blue from Oregon

The Best, the Worst, and the Average Tundra haskap

Tundra and Borealis are closely related and virtually indistinguisable to the untrained eye, but once they bear fruit the Borealis will have larger berries.

I was delighted to hear of a couple of instances of honeyberries being grown in Minnesota. Here is a picture of a three year old Berry Blue, taken in late August of 2010 at Bergeson Nursery at Fertile, MN. The well developed shrub was already entering dormancy. Berry Blues grow up to 8 feet tall, while Tundra and Borealis peak at 6 feet.

Berry Blue, age 3 (crabapples in background!)