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Giants Heart Haskap (Honeyberry) vs Illini Hardy Blackberry
Lonicera caerulea Giants Heart
Rubus fruticosus Illini Hardy
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The Giants Heart Haskap is a late-ripening shrub that blooms with small white flowers and produces large, firm blue berries that are ready for harvest in late July. Their taste is typically described as something between a raspberry and a blueberry.
The Giants Heart Haskap, or Giants Heart Honeyberry is suitable for commercial growth as it is high yielding with sweet berries, cold-hardy and a vigorous grower.
Giants Heart is a late pollinating variety. Pair with other late pollinators to have a higher yield.
Kawaii is a great companion variety.
The Illini Hardy Blackberry was developed in Illinois for northern growers, and produces a large, juicy blackberry with medium-sweet flavor. The berries are ready for harvest in midsummer, and go great in preserves.
The Illini Hardy Blackberry, or the Illinois Blackberry, are floricanes, primarily fruiting on second year canes. Each spring cut back all two-year old canes, leaving only the last year’s growth. This is a self-pollinating variety, so it doesn’t require a second plant nearby to set fruit.