Lonicera caerulea Seeds | Blue Honeysuckle
LATIN NAME: Lonicera caerulea
COMMON NAME: Blue Honeysuckle, Haskap, Sweetberry Honeysuckle
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Blue Honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea is a neat, hardy, deciduous shrub in the honeysuckle family, native to cool regions of the northern hemisphere, while it is grown for its fine, early, edible berries. Established plants reach around Two metres. The flowering period doubles as a feeding season for bees and other pollinators. Add these qualities together and you have a species well worth a place in the garden.
Science & Biotechnology
Lonicera caerulea sits in the honeysuckle family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Blue honeysuckle has a real and distinguished place in the research. Nothing exotic is required: standard seed-sowing practice, done carefully, is enough.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Blue Honeysuckle for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Ecologically, blue honeysuckle is a generous shrub of the garden. Its small, pale-yellow, tubular flowers feed early bees and insects, and its delicious, blue berries feed birds and wildlife, while its fine, leafy crown gives a neat, hardy cover. It is a shrub of generous, fruitful kind, and it is a fine friend of cool garden. Establishment is uncomplicated, and afterwards ordinary care suffices.
Honeysuckle flower, Jin Yin Hua, is one of the most important Chinese heat-clearing herbs, a first-line folk remedy for colds and sore throats with chlorogenic acid as its quality marker; the flowers scent summer gardens and teas alike.
Growing from Seed
Seed is the natural starting point for Blue Honeysuckle, and the process is uncomplicated. Sow the seed evenly over the surface and cover lightly, using a loose, well-drained seed compost, and keep it just moist in bright light until the seedlings are well up. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
It forms a neat, hardy, deciduous shrub, which makes spacing and siting straightforward. Established seedlings need little beyond ordinary attention.
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