On the market in Saskatoon

I have been keeping an eye out for what is coming into the market here for Blue Honeysuckle. So far at Home Depot and Walmart I am seeing the two varieties Blue Moon and Blue Velvet. The plants look very stretched and spindly as in this picture. I noticed the branches break very easily. Not a good sign for the market.

I am glad to see Blue Velvet on the market here so I may have to pick one up yet.

My own plants are /have been blooming like crazy but there seem to be very few pollinators.

Finally spring and the Blue Honeysuckle are blooming

Well it was a long winter no doubt and there was some damage by mice and deer but so far things look pretty good in the orchard. I was surprised to find some plants really quite chewed up by the mice or voles but not a lot of stems stripped which means the tops will still bloom and bear fruit. This is one of the worst but it is in a group of Russian seedlings which are a disaster anyway!

 These are 5 cuttings of my plant number 51. I like the uniformity.

 Very nice shape. Worst weeds are the dandelions.

 This is a seedling of Nimfa. I think the one behind it is too but I did not check the tag. I seem to be able to pick them out in this randomized block.

Another good bloomer. Let the bees come!!

More later.

Bee n thinking about spring.

One of the issues most fruit growers is pollination of their fruit plants. Blue honeysuckle are particularly a challenge as they are self fertile and need pollen from another suitable plant from the species. One of the early possibilities is solitary bee species who are resident in the area and who emerge early in spring. One source of ideas is the Instructables web site. If you type in Solitary bee there are a number of simple housing projects which come up and are reasonable for anyone who is handy with a saw and electric drill. Here is a link to one that I thought was quite artistic.

Interestingly Lee Valley also now carries one made of plastic.

There are many resources on the internet regarding Mason Bees and others who might serve well in the early season pollinating process.

Here is what the result can look like!

 

 

How I hope this summer can be a good producer again!

Found this site with so many wonderful looking possible choices to build. Enjoy!