Honeyberries. Worth it or not ?

[Normans Mum]

Hi all
I was looking in to the idea of planting a honeyberry (maybe two) to grow along the top of my recently set up fruit bush area. Are they not part of the honeysuckle family...?
Have any of you grown these? If so what was the outcome and did it fruit?
TIA

[burnie]

I bought one having been told you only need one(which turns out to be not true), however I did get a few berries in the second year and I don't know where the "Honey" bit comes from, sour and quite unpleasant raw. I did offer it free for anyone who wants to come and collect it, it is on borrowed timed, this could be it's last chance year.

[Normans Mum]

Oh dear.... okay. I might just get something that flowers instead. Thanks Burnie.

[hamamelis]

I got two, though I only got one crop off 'em before I moved and left them. They were a bit odd, most of the fruit were a bit sour, and tasted like a not-very-good blueberry, but every now and again, I got one which tasted totally different, and had this really deep, rich, honey flavour. Maybe the rest weren't fully ripe (I suspect a local blackbird was filching them), I don't know.

I hardly got any fruit of either kind though. I don't think I'd bother again, unless I had more space than I knew what to do with.

[flynch]

You'll need two different varieties to get a crop, I've also found them to slow growing so will take awhile to get a descent crop. The varieties can be very variable in taste, some are sweet and others very sour. They need to be left on the Bush for a few days after going fully blue. I love them, the sweet ones I eat freakish and make great jam with the sour ones

[burnie]

I love them, the sweet ones I eat freakish and make great jam with the sour ones

What do you do pop them in your mouth and spit them in the jam pot if they are sour lol ?

[TrixC]

I don’t grow them myself, but was considering them so did some research. I understand that the fruits don’t all ripen at once, and it can be quite difficult to tell when they’re fully ripe. Also there are lots of varieties, some of which are much better than others. I suspect that’s why people give such variable reports of them. If you are interested in having a go I’ve been told the variety ‘Ruth’ is a good one.

[flynch]

What do you do pop them in your mouth and spit them in the jam pot if they are sour lol ?

Lol no, I just remember which Bush produces the sour fruit, the other Bush sweetens of left on the bush to ripen properly

[Guest]

I got mine before there seemed to be any named varieties about and finally got rid of them last year along with the goji. The bees love them when in flower, which is quite early in the year. However as mentioned when ever I tried them they were always sour and there was never enough of a crop to do anything with. Mine did also get to the point of self seeding freely as well.

[muck lover]

They sound like more trouble than they are worth....

[nickdub]

depends really on whether you're covered with most of the other fruit you want and still have some space left - I put in a couple of them to see how they go - one thing is I struggle with pests eating anything I grow, so I'm always looking for fruit which will be a bit less popular with my garden visitors..

[Normans Mum]

Thank you all for your comments. I have decided to just plant a jasmine. It looks good, supposedly will smell good and I won't have to worry whether it tastes good.

[dee9]

Joining the thread as I have just the same question

[SarrissUK]

I found honeyberry plants in my local Norrisons, along with logans, tay, rasps, blackberries... anything you can wish for really.. even goji's! All £2 each for decent looking plants. I forgot that this thread says you need two - only bought one. Ne'mind, I will give just one a go for a year

[Bolets]

I grow aprox 30 different varieties in Sweden and i really love these. Starting with the busch. Its a very beautiful looking busch with wonderful flowering. Its so early in the spring and i really enjoy that. The fruit needs to be blue for 2 weeks before its ripe and thats a problem for many new growers. If you should grow it buy atleast a few plants so they flower at the same time and look for newer varieties as they are better and sweeter than old ones.

Haskap rocks!