Lonicera kamtschatica Eisbär - Honeyberry

Lonicera kamtschatica Eisbär is a recent German variety, selected for its high yield of flowers and fruit. It comes from a shrubby honeysuckle called Sweetberry, and is grown for its edible fruits of beautiful, elongated size that are fleshy and particularly tasty. This shrub produces abundant cream-white flowering in spring, delicately scented, followed by the formation of numerous vitamin-rich fruits that can be consumed fresh or made into jellies and jams. This honeysuckle is a small fruit bush that is very versatile; it will find its place in a culinary garden or flowering hedge, including in a small garden.

Also called "Blue Honeysuckle", like all honeysuckles, Lonicera caerulea ssp. kamtschatica is a shrubby species of the Caprifoliaceae family.  It is native to Eastern Europe, especially Russia and Siberian Asia, from Kamchatka to Magadan to Sakhalin Island. Indigenous populations have known and been consuming this honeysuckle for a long time.  It is a plant that prefers non-calcareous, humus-rich and moist soil, and is extremely resistant to cold weather.

The 'Eisbär' honeysuckle (also known as 'Polar Bear') shows a rather slow growth and an erect bushy habit. It forms an average-sized bush, about 1.50m (4 ft 11 in) tall and 1.20m (3 ft 11 in) wide, and has small deciduous leaves that turn grey by the end of August before falling early in the season, in September. Measuring 3 to 8cm (1.2 to 3.1 in) long, they oval-shaped, dark green and slightly hairy. In March, numerous tubular flowers, 3cm (1.2 in) long, open on the 1-year-old stems, blooming into cream-white star-shaped flowers that have a very pleasant fragrance. They have two large central lips and the stamens are visible. The flowers, as well as the young shoots, are perfectly resistant to temperatures around -10°C. In May (or June depending on the climate), the flowers give way to beautiful blue, frosted, cylindrical and slightly bumpy berries, measuring up to 4cm (1.6 in) long and 1.5cm (0.6 in) in diameter. They resemble large blueberries in flavour. Edible and rich in antioxidants, vitamins B and C, they can be eaten fresh, in jams or jellies.

Hardy down to -35°C, Lonicera Eisbär can be planted, in an informal hedge or a culinary hedge for gourmets, mixing it with raspberries, currants, thornless blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, serviceberries, or even Goji berries (Lycium barbarum), in a sunny location and in fertile, moist and non-limestone soil. You will enjoy its fragrance even more in a container on a terrace! Ornamental shrubs such as lilacs, mock oranges, abelias or Kolkwitzia can serve as a backdrop, but be careful not to let their root system encroach into the space of our blue honeysuckle.

Tip: For better fruiting, plant it in pairs or groups of three as this will enhance the pollination rate.