A selection of the best, tasty and sweet honeysuckle varieties for growing in different regions

The main qualities that people pay attention to when choosing a honeysuckle variety are yield, taste and ripening time of fruits, and adaptability to climatic conditions. Experienced gardeners recommend evaluating other properties: pollination characteristics, stability of fruiting, degree of shedding, transportability of berries. We will tell you which honeysuckle is the sweetest and most delicious and which varieties are suitable for growing in different regions of Russia.

Top best varieties of honeysuckle, regardless of parameters

The list of the best includes varieties that have long proven themselves in domestic selection and have received recognition from gardeners.

Amphora

The bush is dense, compact, no more than 1.5 m high, and has a decorative appearance. The variety is mid-season and quickly enters the fruiting period. It has good frost resistance and immunity to pests. Productivity depends on growing conditions - about 2 kg. Large berries ripen together, fall off weakly, and have a sweet and sour taste.

The Giant's Daughter

The bush is oval, tall - up to 1.7 m. This is a large-fruited variety with sweet and sour, slightly crumbling fruits. Berries - high-quality raw materials for processing and freezing - tolerate transportation and storage well. The variety is resistant to winter frosts.

Bazhovskaya

A wide, tall bush - up to 2 m - tolerates drought and cold. The variety is early ripening with an average yield of about 1.5 kg.The berries are medium size, sweet, without bitterness. The disadvantages include significant crumbling.

Volkhova

A tall (up to 2 m) oval-shaped bush with good decorative qualities tolerates temperature changes well. The berries are large, up to 2 cm long, and crumble slightly. The taste of the fruit is sweet, there is no sourness, the pulp is juicy with a strawberry aroma.

Swan

The vigorous shrub is highly decorative, hardy and winter-hardy. Berries medium size ripen early (in the first ten days of June), fall off weakly. Sweet fruits with a pleasant smell tolerate transportation well. Productivity – up to 2.5 kg.

Dessert

Sprawling bush of medium size, mid-season ripening. Large sweet berries (up to 2 g) ripen quickly, have a slight pleasant sourness, and are well stored and transported.

Lapis lazuli

A medium spreading shrub up to 1.7 m high is resistant to frost and most pests. The plant is partially self-fertile with minimal fruit shedding. The length of the berries is up to 2 cm. The pulp has a fibrous structure and a good dessert taste.

Altair

A dense, spherical, ornamental bush grows no higher than 1.5 m. It is unpretentious, resistant to temperature changes, diseases and pests. It is characterized by early ripening, yield – up to 2.5 kg. The berries are medium-sized (up to 1 g), juicy, sweet taste, slightly tart.

Yugana

Bush up to 1.5 m high, with a thickened crown. Belongs to the group of mid-season honeysuckles. It is distinguished by stable fruiting every year, excellent yield (up to 5 kg) and slight shedding. The taste of the berries is sweet with a pleasant sourness; the fruits are highly transportable.

Delight

The width and height of the bush is 1.7 m.It has good winter hardiness, resistance to pests and diseases. Honeysuckle is a large-fruited plant, ripens early and quickly, and falls slightly. The fruits are aromatic with a sweet and sour taste, no bitterness. The harvest is stored for a long time and is well transported.

Blue spindle

Oval erect bush resistant to temperature changes and pests, begins to bear fruit early. The length of the fruit is up to 2.8 cm, the berries are sweet with pronounced sourness. It is distinguished by stable fruiting every year and good yield.

Which honeysuckle is the best in taste and size?

Edible varieties of honeysuckle are grown for their harvest. Therefore, the taste of berries and their size are the most important characteristics when choosing a variety for planting on a plot.

The sweetest and most delicious

The varieties of Bakchar selection (bred in the Bakcharskoe horticultural nursery) have excellent taste. Berries are universal: they can be consumed fresh and as a raw material for processing fruits and making desserts, jams, compotes, juice, jelly and wine.

Let's look at the sweetest varieties of honeysuckle.

Siberian

Characterized by:

• early ripening;
• high yield (up to 3 kg);
• large fruits (more than 2 cm);
• stable annual fruiting.

Siberian berries are covered with thin skin and have a very sweet taste. They ripen together, are easily separated from the stalk, and do not fall off.

Silginka

Characterized by:

• early and friendly ripening (June - early July);
• medium and high yield (from 1.5 to 3 kg);
• large fruits (up to 2 g).

The berries do not fall off for a long time and do not have a characteristic bitterness. Their skin is practically not felt in the mouth, the flesh is very juicy, with a pleasant aroma.

Roxana

Characterized by:

• large-fruited;
• late ripening (mid-late July);
• high yields (about 3.5 kg);
• medium crumbling.

According to connoisseurs, honeysuckle of this variety one of the most delicious. It has a very thin skin, a sour-sweet taste, leaving a subtle strawberry aftertaste, and a fibrous pulp consistency (rare for honeysuckle).

The largest

The largest-fruited varieties of honeysuckle have berries weighing from 1.2 to 2.14 g. These include:

1. Moraine. Early ripening variety. The berries reach 3 cm in length and about 1 cm in diameter. The skin and consistency of the pulp is delicate. The taste is dessert, sweet and sour, without bitterness.
2. Provincial. Late ripening. The average length of the berries is 3 cm. The taste is very high. The fruits are tender, aromatic, sweet and sour. There is a barely noticeable bitterness.
3. Commonwealth. Mid-season variety. The length of the berries is up to 3 cm, weight is up to 1.3 g. The pulp is tender, melting in the mouth. The taste is refreshing, sweet with sourness and citrus bitterness.

Varieties without bitterness and sourness

Most varieties of honeysuckle are characterized by such qualities as sourness and slight bitterness. However, breeders have bred plants with fruits that do not have these flavors:

1. Slav. The berries have a strong aroma and sweet taste.
2. The Giant's Daughter. The fruits have a pronounced sweet taste with a very slight sourness.
3. Amur. The fruits have a dessert-sweet taste and a strong aroma.

The best varieties by ripening speed

Despite the fact that different varieties of honeysuckle bloom almost at the same time, they have different ripening periods. Fruiting time varies from early June to mid-July.

Early ripening

These representatives of the culture ripen in mid-June. Among early ripening varieties, the best are considered:

1. Assol. An elite variety with a dessert taste and superior tasting characteristics.
2. Bakchar giant. Large-fruited honeysuckle, the fruit pulp has a delicate consistency, juicy, sweet.
3. Caramel. A productive variety (about 3 kg), the berries have a sweet taste.

Mid-season

Mid-season plants include those whose fruits ripen in the second half of June:

1. Long-fruited. Valued for its spicy sweet and sour taste.
2. Lenita. A large-fruited species characterized by a sweet taste with refreshing sour notes and a slightly tart aftertaste.
3. Souvenir. It is characterized by a lack of aroma and pronounced sourness.

Late ripening

The berries of these species ripen in the first half of July:

1. Berel. Plants are characterized by high yield (up to 4 kg).
2. Enchantress. It is distinguished by stable annual fruiting and a tart taste of berries.
3. The highlight. The pulp of the fruit is fibrous, aromatic, with a high tasting rating.

Ripening dates may vary slightly depending on the region and growing conditions.

The best varieties for different regions

Climatic conditions affect the yield of honeysuckle and the taste of the fruit. Breeders have developed various varieties that have proven themselves in different regions.

Moscow region and middle zone

The honeysuckle varieties recommended for these conditions have tall, powerful bushes and large fruits with high taste and rich vitamin composition:

1. Precocious. It is characterized by early ripening, large fruits and lack of bitterness.
2. Antoshka. New generation variety. The bush is of medium height, the berries have a sweet and sour taste.
3. Kingfisher. A frost- and disease-resistant variety with large, tasty fruits.It sheds slightly, the berries tolerate transportation well.

Siberia

For cultivation in Siberia, breeders have developed varieties characterized by winter hardiness:

1. Gerda. Good yield (on average about 2 kg), the berries are high in vitamins.
2. Cinderella. Stable yields and resistance to adverse weather conditions.
3. Bakchar's pride. In addition to high winter hardiness and yield (up to 4 kg), the variety is distinguished by the good taste of its fruit.

Ural

The varieties recommended for cultivation in this region are characterized by a height of up to 1.5 m, average yield and a sweet taste of berries with a characteristic slight bitterness (Fianit, Sineglazka, Lenita).

Southern regions

In the southern regions, varieties are grown that are well adapted to arid climates:

1. Violet. The ripening period is average. Tight, slightly fibrous pulp, pleasant aroma and sweet and sour dessert taste.
2. Silginka. Low spreading shrub, medium-sized berries with a pleasant, refreshing taste.

What other criteria should you use to choose a honeysuckle variety?

Experienced gardeners name other criteria that you should pay attention to when choosing a variety:

1. Productivity. Experts advise choosing varieties with high or medium yield - from 1.5 to 4 kg per bush (Sibiryachka, Roxana, Caramel).
2. Stability. Preference is given to varieties that can bear fruit annually (Sibiryachka, Volshebnitsa, etc.).
3. Ability to self-pollinate. There are few such varieties of honeysuckle, so you should select several mutually pollinating varieties. For example, Lazurnaya is a good pollinator for the widespread varieties Blue Spindle, Bakcharsky Giant, Cinderella, and Morena is the best option for Blue Bird, Long-fruited, Leningrad Giant.
4. Transportability. The fruits of such plants are distinguished by dry detachment and a large amount of P-active substances (Berel, Leningrad giant, Violet).
5. Resistance to diseases and pests (Long-fruited, Fire Opal, Jubilee).
6. Weak crumbling. During the ripening period, the berries stay on the branches for a long time (Altair, Nadezhda, Nightingale, Souvenir).

Conclusion

The yield and taste of berries depend on the selection and growing conditions of honeysuckle. Therefore, when choosing a variety to grow on your site, pay attention to its main characteristics: adaptability to climatic conditions, resistance to diseases and pests, yield, size and taste of fruits, preservation on the bush and keeping quality.