Labrador Tea vs Blue Honeysuckle - TreeTime.ca

Labrador Tea vs Blue Honeysuckle

Rhododendron groenlandicum (Ledum groenlandicum)

Lonicera caerulea

Labrador Tea
Blue Honeysuckle

Labrador Tea is slow-growing evergreen shrub native to the boreal forests of Canada.

It thrives in wet, swampy conditions.

Labrador Tea has narrow, leathery, dark green leaves, topped by a cluster of white flowers in the spring. It is a perfect ornamental shrub for boggy, wet areas of your property.

Blue Honeysuckle (wild Haskap or Honeyberry) is a cold hardy shrub and native to most of Canada. The pale yellow to white flowers provide nectar and pollen for bumblebees and other pollinators. The edible berries resemble elongated blueberries. They have a sweet-tart flavour often described as a blend of blueberry, raspberry, and blackcurrant, though wild berries can vary in taste.

Compared to popular cultivated varieties, the berries of Blue Honeysuckle are typically smaller and more variable in shape and flavour. While some enjoy eating the berries fresh, they are more commonly used in baking and preserves. Blue Honeysuckle can be used in hedgerows, border plantings, and naturalized landscapes. It may also serve as a cross-pollination partner in haskap plantings or as a decoy planting to draw birds and wildlife away from more desirable fruit crops.

Blue Honeysuckle has limited self-pollination and produces better yields when planted with other haskap plants or varieties for cross-pollination. Wild populations have not been studied as extensively as cultivated varieties, and because these plants are grown from seed, bloom timing and cross-pollination compatibility may vary.

Labrador Tea Quick Facts

Blue Honeysuckle Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $2.29 - SAVE UP TO 54%
Lowest Price: $2.99 - SAVE UP TO 67%
Zone: 1a
Zone: 2a
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: any
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: none

Toxicity: slightly toxic if ingested

Foliage: leathery, orange undersides, evergreen
Fall colour: rust orange
Flowers: white, fragrant
Flowers: yellowish-white, funnel shaped
Bloom time: mid to late spring
Berries: oblong, dark purplish-blue, edible
Flavor: sweet-tart
Harvest: mid-summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU, PE
Native to: AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, NU, PE
Other Names: blue fly-honeysuckle, fly honeysuckle, haskap, honeyberry, mountain fly honeysuckle, sweetberry honeysuckle