Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn (Female) vs Blue Honeysuckle - TreeTime.ca

Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn (Female) vs Blue Honeysuckle

Lonicera caerulea

Hippophae rhamnoides Orange Energy

Blue Honeysuckle
Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn (Female)

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.

Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn is a female variety known for its large yields of yellowish orange berries that ripen in September. The berries are juicy with a pleasant tart flavour. They have a high sugar content and are often sought after for their vitamin C concentration. Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn requires a male pollinizer to set fruit.

Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn has moderately thorny branches and other well-known features of Sea Buckthorn plants. These include silvery green foliage and nitrogen-fixing capabilities, which improves the surrounding soil.

Sea Buckthorn plants have male and female flowers occurring on different plants, a male pollinizer is required for fruit production. Can be paired with Lord Sea Buckthorn which is a male variety.

Blue Honeysuckle Quick Facts

Orange Energy Sea Buckthorn (Female) Quick Facts

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Lowest Price: $17.99 - SAVE UP TO 18%
Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: high
Maintenance: medium


Flowers: yellowish-white, funnel shaped
Bloom time: mid to late spring
Berries: oblong, dark purplish-blue, edible
Berries: small, light orange, edible
Flavor: sweet-tart
Harvest: mid-summer
Harvest: mid to late September
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: orange energy sea berry, orange energy seaberry, orange energy seabuckthorn