Boreal Blizzard Haskap (Honeyberry) vs Blue Honeysuckle - TreeTime.ca

Boreal Blizzard Haskap (Honeyberry) vs Blue Honeysuckle

Lonicera caerulea

Lonicera caerulea Boreal Blizzard

Blue Honeysuckle
Boreal Blizzard Haskap (Honeyberry)

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.

Boreal Blizzard Haskap is known for its excellent taste and is the most similar to the Aurora Haskap. The flavour of Haskaps is generally described as a cross between a blueberry and a raspberry. Boreal Blizzard Haskaps are well suited to fresh eating, freezing, baking, and preserves.

It has one of the largest and heaviest berries and they are firm enough to withstand mechanical harvesting

For optimal fruit production, cross-pollination is required. Haskaps need to be planted with a compatible variety. Compatibility is influenced by both bloom time and genetics.

Boreal Blizzard Haskap is a late-pollinating variety that pairs well with Boreal Beast.

Blue Honeysuckle Quick Facts

Boreal Blizzard Haskap (Honeyberry) Quick Facts

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Zone: 2a
Zone: 2a
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: any
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low


Flowers: yellowish-white, funnel shaped
Flowers: pale yellow
Bloom time: mid to late spring
Berries: oblong, dark purplish-blue, edible
Berries: large, purple blue
Flavor: sweet-tart
Flavor: raspberry-blueberry taste
Harvest: mid-summer
Harvest: mid - late July
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


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
Other Names: boreal blizzard honeyberry, haskap, honeyberry