Falsebox vs Blue Honeysuckle - TreeTime.ca

Falsebox vs Blue Honeysuckle

Lonicera caerulea

Paxistima myrsinites

CUSTOM GROW

Blue Honeysuckle
Falsebox

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.

Falsebox is a hardy, native evergreen shrub found in forests, rocky slopes, and open woodland sites. Though small and easily overlooked among the leaves, the maroon flowers still supply nectar and pollen for pollinators such as native bees and flies. Blooming in spring, they provide an important early-season food source. Its year-round greenery adds visual interest through the winter.

Falsebox is a low-growing shrub that tolerates a wide range of conditions, including drought once established. It thrives particularly well beneath the shade of mature trees, where few other plants succeed. With its resilience and ecological value, Falsebox is well-suited for naturalization, restoration projects, and diverse landscape plantings.

Blue Honeysuckle Quick Facts

Falsebox Quick Facts

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Zone: 2a
Zone: 5a
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Height: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal, wet
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading
Growth form: prostrate to spreading
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Spreading: layering - medium


Foliage: evergreen, leathery leaves
Bark: reddish-brown
Flowers: yellowish-white, funnel shaped
Flowers: small, maroon-purple, fragrant
Bloom time: mid to late spring
Bloom time: summer
Berries: oblong, dark purplish-blue, edible
Flavor: sweet-tart
Harvest: mid-summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, NU, PE
Native to: AB, BC
Other Names: blue fly-honeysuckle, fly honeysuckle, haskap, honeyberry, mountain fly honeysuckle, sweetberry honeysuckle
Other Names: false box, mountain boxwood, mountain lover, myrtle boxwood, oregon boxleaf, oregon boxwood