Well you would have thought the blooming season was over for Blue Honeysuckle but there are at least 5 or more plants with new blossoms. One of the plants with new blossoms is this 1 1/2 year old plant. It is a very tall seedling and comes from seeds from a Polish source. Other seedlings from this source are also showing good growth but not to this extent.Seedlings from wild collected seed from a Magadan Russian source are doing the poorest and I suspect our soil is too alkaline compared to the source area.
So far I have not gotten to the pruning which needs to be done on 2 - 4 year old plants so I am hoping the season will last a little longer before the snow comes.There are about 100 plants in 3 litre pots as well as a few smaller pots to be planted or re-potted . A little piece of old pasture land would be very nice at this point in time!
There are 7-9 populations of collected seed waiting for the winter planting under lights.
This is the neat part of the project!I have had several conversations over the past days about the future of Blue Honeysuckle (Haskap if you have the University named varieties) on the Canadian Prairies. As with most new crops, there is a real excitement at all levels. And as with many new crops there are many imaginative plans made, ideas cast into the mix, and entities become involved. Having lived through the early days of rapeseed processing and then canola, I can say that it will be those who care for the crop and are good, conscientious growers who will make this product find a niche in the marketplace.
Much needs to be learned about growing and management and this will separate the producers from the gardeners in terms of plantings any where in Canada. Blue honeysuckle is definitely a home gardeners fruit but has serious potential in the areas of juice, neutrceuticals, and dried fruit on a much larger scale. A Google search of Blue Honeysuckle and neutraceutical brings to the surface a number of scientific articles worth reading.
Be a grower!
