Edible Honeysuckle Fruits: Haskap/Honeyberries, and More

 Lonicera genus fruits

Honeyberry, or Haskap, has been growing in popularity as a tasty cold hardy fruit. It's a tart-sweet soft early-ripening fruit. The blossoms are more cold tolerant than most blossoms, so you are unlikely to lose fruit due to a late freeze. And some of the early-ripening varieties can ripen as early as strawberries so it is one of the first fruits you can enjoy in the spring.

Honeyberries are one of several subspecies of Lonicera caerulea, or hybrids of those subspecies. Even though these plants have been in breeding programs since 1950 there are still new varieties being created.

• Lonicera caerulea, Honeyberry/Haskap USDA zones 2-7

There are a few more Honeysuckle plants that are in the same genus as honeyberry that have edible fruits. They may not be as cultivated for flavor as Honeyberries are and people have told me that some of them have a bitterness (which remains in some types of honeyberries too). But there are also some that are known to be sweet. Some of these species can be considered invasive in certain parts of the United States, so be sure to check before you decide to grow any of them.

Lonicera:

• Lonicera fragrantissima Winter Honeysuckle, Fragrant Honeysuckle, Fragrant Winter Honeysuckle
• Lonicera angustifolia Narrow-leafed Honeysuckle
• Lonicera standishii Standish Honeysuckle or Fragrant Honeysuckle, 'Budapest'
• Lonicera villosa Fuller's Honeysuckle or Mountain Honeysuckle, has a bitter taste even when ripe
• Lonicera ciliosa Orange Honeysuckle

There are other honeysuckles with edible characteristics, with edible leaves, and of course, flowers that you can suck the nectar from, but that don't have edible berries and I did not list them here.

Another "honeysuckle" worth mentioning here is not from the Lonicera genus, but it is called a honeysuckle: Himalayan Honeysuckle, or Chocolateberry. It has been described as being coffee, dark chocolate, or caramel flavored when fully ripe. The berries are ripe when they are very very soft. I haven't found any cultivated varieties of this plant. It is not very cold hardy like most of the other honeysuckles.

• Leycesteria formosa, Himalayan Honeysuckle USDA zones 7-10.