How to Grow Haskap
Lonicera caerulea
An edible honeysuckle that blooms through snow and ripens before strawberries.
By the Plants by Zone Editorial Team · Reviewed June 1, 2026
About haskap
Haskap (also sold as honeyberry or blue honeysuckle) is an edible-fruited honeysuckle so cold-hardy that it shrugs off the deep freezes and short, cool summers that defeat most other fruit. It blooms extremely early — often while there is still snow on the ground — which is exactly why it can ripen a full crop in a season too short for almost anything else. The oblong blue berries taste like a cross between blueberry and raspberry, and the shrub asks for very little once it is established.
When to plant and harvest haskap
Timing is relative to your frost dates. Find your USDA zone for exact dates, or browse the month-by-month calendars.
Start seeds indoors
Not applicable — plant a dormant, bare-root or potted nursery shrub
Transplant outdoors
Early spring or fall while dormant
Direct sow
Not applicable
Harvest
Early summer, often several weeks before strawberries
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How to grow haskap step by step
- 1
Plant at least two genetically different, compatible haskap cultivars — a single bush, even a "self-fertile" one, sets fruit poorly on its own.
- 2
Site in full sun in well-drained soil; haskap tolerates cold, wind, and poor soil far better than heat.
- 3
Water regularly the first year or two while roots establish, then expect the shrub to need little attention.
- 4
Mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds around the shallow root zone.
- 5
Prune out only dead, damaged, or crossing wood in late winter — haskap needs minimal pruning for years.
- 6
Protect ripening berries from birds, which often find them before you do.
Common problems growing haskap
⚠ Heavy bloom but almost no berries
A single variety, or two of the same cultivar, cannot pollinate each other — plant two genetically distinct, cross-compatible cultivars nearby.
⚠ Birds strip the crop overnight
Haskap ripens earlier than almost any other fruit, when birds have few other options — net the bushes as berries begin to color.
⚠ Fruit splits after rain
Common right at peak ripeness in wet weather; pick promptly once berries color fully rather than waiting for maximum size.
✓ Good companions for haskap
✗ Keep away from
🧺 Harvesting haskap
Color alone is a poor guide — haskap berries turn blue on the outside well before they are truly ripe, and an early-picked berry is sharply tart. Taste-test a few, or wait until berries fall easily into your palm with the gentlest touch, which usually means a week or so after they first color. Because they ripen unevenly along the branch, plan on two or three passes through the patch rather than a single harvest.
Haskap: frequently asked questions
When should you plant haskap?＋
In most regions you transplant early spring or fall while dormant. Timing is relative to your last frost, so find your USDA hardiness zone for the exact planting dates where you live.
Do I need more than one haskap bush?＋
Yes — haskap needs a different, cross-compatible cultivar blooming nearby to set a real crop. A lone bush, or two plants of the same variety, will flower heavily but fruit very little.
Why does haskap survive where other fruit fails?＋
It blooms extremely early, often through lingering snow or hard frosts, and the flowers themselves tolerate freezing temperatures — a trait almost no other fruiting shrub shares. That lets it complete its whole fruiting cycle within a short, cold-region growing season.
Sources & review
Written and maintained by the Plants by Zone Editorial Team. Planting times are based on USDA hardiness zones and NOAA frost-date normals, with care guidance drawn from Cooperative Extension sources. Last reviewed June 1, 2026.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone MapNOAA U.S. climate normalsCooperative Extension
Grow haskap in your zone
See exactly when to plant and what else to grow alongside haskap, tailored to your USDA hardiness zone.
