Has anyone grown a Honeyberry ?

[Nature's Babe]

I have just ordered a couple of Honeyberry plants from DT Brown, has anyone else grown these? It seems they taste like a blueberry with a slight aftertaste of honey, height and spread is said to be four feet. I wonder if the flowers are perfumed like ordinary honeysuckle ? If perfumed then I will plant where we can enjoy the scent.

[Kleftiwallah]

I have three tiny jobs, not worth talking about yet! Cheers, Tony.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi KAleftiwallah, ah looks like a case of wait and see! I read that they grow easily from seed, so if they turn out any good we can do swops.

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
In the RHS blurb below:-

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Pro ... 8#section1

When it comes to propagation by cuttings it actual mentions the sex of the cutting. There is no mention to say that if these plants are diocious or monocious so I am mystified as to why they mention the sex of the cutting.
I am begining to think that these plants maybe diocious because they are sold in pairs maybe one male plant and the other female.
Perhaps you could advise us later on in the year when you have got a crop growing.
They sound very tempting and if they are typical Loniceras (shub variety) they would grow very well here.
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Johnboy, they arrived in good condition and were carefully packed, but were in quite small pots and a bit rootbound so I have teased out the roots and repotted in bigger pots with some rootgrow before transplanting out into the garden, hopefully to give them a better start. honeysuckle grows well here too. I will certainly let you know how they fare

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
Do they tell you if the two plants that you have received are different sexes?
I know they say that two plants will enhance fertilisation but still cannot justify the RHA blurb that when cuttings are taken you would be able to tell the sex of the cutting! Without the plants being diocious the RHA statement simply doesn't make sense.
I look forward hearing of their progress in the coming months.
This year I have invested in three Primo Cane Reuben, the first primocane Blackberry and maybe we could swap cuttings?
Sincerely,
JB.

[Nature's Babe]

Nothing to say which is which Johnboy, looking at the leaves one is more green, the other is tinged with a little red, with kiwi's the male is redder, lol may or may not be relevant. I also bought a japanese wineberry, it looks similar to blackberry prickly and cane like...wouldn't it be nice if they came with full description and cultivation guides!
PS I would love to swap cuttings, though what I usually do with blackberry is place a cane tip in a pot of soil and they root very easily,( is that still called a cutting? ) it has the support of the parent plant and once it has sound roots I cut it from the parent plant. Is the primocane thornless ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/ho ... berry.html

[Johnboy]

Hi NB,
The Primocame Blackberry Reuben is being grown in this country by Hargeaves Nursery in conjunction with an American Univesity.
This www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbVk8D4lKIQ link will show you how they grow. They actually have two crops a year after the second year. The first fruit grows on the old wood and the plant produces either ground shoots or side shoots which fruit the first year. It is these shoots that give you the early fruit next year after fruiting this then old wood is cut down leaving the current years growth to go on and give you the second and main crop.
The normal Blackberry plant uses 10 - 12ft per plant but the promocanes can be planted like Raspberries at 18 inches apart and have an upright growth pattern. They are not entirely thornless but with the growth pattern I suspect the thorns will represent very few problems.
If you go onto Google and go to Primocane Blackberries, Hargreaves have a site other than the U Tube one and if you scroll down they explain the differences.
I tried the Japanese Wineberry some years ago but the crop was so meagre I decided to grub them and put some Joan J Raspberries instead.
JB.