Honeysuckle is a perennial that belongs to the family of Honeysuckle. It can be curly and erect. The plant survives well in the middle lane. The fruits that appear after flowering are edible in many varieties.
They are often used for the preparation of medicines and cosmetics. With their help, you can make up for the lack of vitamins, trace elements, organic acids. Planting and caring for honeysuckle in the open field are quite simple.
In total, 190 varieties are distinguished. They differ in bush height, hue and shape of inflorescences.
Description and features of honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is unpretentious. Berries appear in the first season. From one bush you can get from 2 to 4 kg. Edible fruits have shades of blue, one of the first spring berries. They have a sweet and sour taste with a small bitterness. In appearance they resemble blueberries and blueberries. Waxing, a weak aroma are considered to be their characteristic features. The skin is very soft, delicate, bursts quickly.
The berries of red and yellow are poisonous.
The plant is wild and cultivated. In any case, it is quite resistant to the effects of low temperatures, high humidity.
The root system of the honeysuckle is located close to the surface of the soil. Leaves are smooth and oblong. Flowers are considered to be cross-pollinated. An ovary can appear only if two different-grade bushes have been planted nearby. The maximum yield is obtained from plants older than 15 years. The flowering period begins in mid-May. The appearance of a wonderful aroma contributes to good pollination.
If the crop is not harvested on time, the fruits may fall off. To prevent their damage, it is recommended to pull a mesh cloth under the bush.
Honeysuckle varieties
All varieties can be divided into two types: with edible and inedible berries.
| Grade | Description | Using | Maturation |
| Tatar | Differs in durability. Lush bushes, pale pink and white inflorescences. It blooms from May to June. Orange small fruits, poisonous. Varieties: Rosea, Hack Red, Elegans, Zabelii. | Decorative. | The end of June. |
| Forest (wolfberry) | Small shrubs with light green branches. White corollas, red large poisonous fruits. | Planted to decorate the site. | July August. |
| Honeysuckle | Inedible small berries, honey aroma. The plant blooms in May and June. Corollas of white-yellow and white-pink shades. The length is 5-6 meters. | Decorative creepers. | The end of July. |
| Japanese | Semi-evergreen creepers with poisonous fruits. Purple with a white tint of inflorescences. A lot of lateral growth. | Landscaping. | Mid summer. |
| Pride of Bakchar | Frost-resistant plant, flowers appear in the spring. Spindle-shaped violet-blue berries have a sweet and sour taste. Thanks to the thick shell, there are no transportation problems. | Cooking compote, wine, jam and jam. | The beginning of June. |
| Bakcharskaya Anniversary | Medium-spreading bushes are characterized by an oval shape. Brown shoots, fresh aroma. It grows well in arid places. The berries are large in size, there is no bitterness. | For culinary purposes. | Late. |
| Sylginka | Large dark blue berries are elongated and rounded. Their top is pointed. Covered with a wax coating, due to which they acquire a silver tint. Plant height - no more than 1,5 m. | Decorative look, desserts. | Medium early. |
| Blue bird | Frost-resistant, about 1.5 m. Pain-resistant. Leaves are elongated-oval. The berries are elongated, small, cobalt with a bluish tint, sweet, tart, blueberry flavor. | Culinary and healing goals. | From mid to late June. |
| Morena (The Little Mermaid) | Small, elegant. Fancy for diseases and pests, if the summer is cold and rainy. Winter hardy up to -40 ° C. | Cooking | The end of June. |
Honeysuckle begins to bear fruit for about 7-8 years after planting.
Varieties of honeysuckle for the suburbs
In this territory, moderate continental seasonality is clearly expressed. Winter is cold and summer is warm. In such climatic conditions, the following varieties are planted:
| Grade | Description | Maturation | Pollinators |
| Altair | It is characterized by frost resistance, disease resistance. Blue berries have a pleasant taste. | Early ripe. | Moraine Malvina. |
| Bakcharsky giant | Height - 2 m, width - 1.3 m. The bush is oval, loose and sprawling. Gray-green leaves are matte. | Mid-season. | Giant's daughter Nymph. |
| Blue spindle | Resistant to low temperature and drought. Another distinguishing feature is high productivity. The leaves are elongated oval. The berries are blue and large. Among the minuses: excessive flaking. | Early ripe. | Cinderella Blue bird. |
| Long-fruited | Elongated violet-blue fruits with thin skin, long shoots, lanceolate leaves. The average crumbling fruit. | Early ripe. | Blue eye The swan. |
| Cinderella | Thick low bushes, thin shoots, large black spindle-shaped berries. It features high winter hardiness. | Mid-season. | Amphora Blue spindle. |
| Leningrad giant | Height - more than 2 meters. Cylindrical blue fruits. Frost resistance, resistance to ailments. | Early ripe. | Gzhelka Malvina. |
Outdoor honeysuckle planting
This plant does not require special attention. It is planted in moist, well-heated soil.
The selected area must be protected from draft. Honeysuckle loves sunlight. At the same time, its lower branches should be in the shade.
Disembarkation Rules
Honeysuckle planted in one place for 25 years or longer. Therefore, it is important to choose the right seedling, place, soil.
It is strictly forbidden to deepen the root neck during planting. After it is sprinkled with soil, the plant needs to be shed well. To prevent moisture evaporation, mulch the soil on the bed.
Honeysuckle can not be trimmed immediately after planting, because of this it will develop longer.
Before wintering, they provide insulation of the root system.
Landing time
Honeysuckle planted from August to October. If the gardener decided to plant it in the spring, he may not wait for the early opening of the buds. Spring planting is carried out by transferring an earthen coma with a seedling to a new location. In autumn, seedlings are placed in the ground according to the same rules. In this case, special attention is paid to the characteristics of the variety, the state of the root system and soil.
It is not recommended to transplant in the spring and during flowering.
Selection of seedlings
Bushes rarely grow above 3 meters. Thanks to the fluffy crown, honeysuckle is often used to create a unique landscape. Green hedges can be either low or high. Gardeners identify such important factors as fruit edibility, decorativeness, and productivity. Planting material must be purchased in specialized stores.
The seedling must meet the following parameters:
- age - at least 2 years;
- the number of branches is 2 or 3;
- height - from 30 to 40 cm.
Roots and shoots must not be damaged. If they are found, the plant should be discarded. A significant reason for refusal may be the lack of kidneys, underdevelopment of the root system, stunted appearance. To achieve a good harvest, it is necessary to purchase seedlings belonging to different varieties.
Choosing a place and soil
Honeysuckle loves moisture and the sun. Good predecessors are vegetables and potatoes.
It needs to be planted next to buildings, a fence or other shrubs. This prevents the negative effects of strong winds. The bush productively bears fruit if the soil has slightly alkaline and neutral acidity. Among the mandatory requirements are good aeration, regular top dressing. The brought earth is diluted with dolomite flour. If you plant a plant near groundwater or on sandy soil, it will greatly reduce yield. By pallor of leaves negative signs of soil are estimated.
Landing
When landing honeysuckle in open ground, you must follow the following rules:
- In advance, the place is leveled, dug up.
- The root system is placed in square wells of a small size (40 cm).
- The distance between them depends on the variety (approximately 1.5 m with a difference of 50 cm).
- A drainage mixture is placed at the bottom of the prepared pit. Expanded clay, broken brick and gravel are present in its composition.
- If the soil is not fertile enough, it is fertilized with compost, ash and superphosphate (11: 0.3: 0.1 in kg).
- Pour 8 liters of water.
- Mulch with peat, humus.
Honeysuckle Care
The first 3 years recommend regularly watering, loosening the soil and removing weeds. Spring work is hilling.
Honeysuckle during the year 3 feeding is necessary in spring, summer, autumn.
Three-year-old seedlings require the following fertilizers:
- autumn - humus (5 kg), ash (0.1 kg), superphosphate (0.04 kg) per 1 sq. km. m;
- spring - saltpeter (15 g) per 1 square. m;
- in the summer, after fruiting - a solution of nitrophosphate (5 g per 2 liters of water).
Pruning
It provides the correct formation of the bush. There are several rules:
- Refusal to prune plants that have not reached the age of 7.
- In the first year, the honeysuckle is shortened so that no more than 10 cm from the soil remains.
- Subsequently thinning is carried out (every 2-3 years).
- Old bushes are pruned, leaving about 50 cm of the total length.
- Using sanitary pruning eliminates shoots that are damaged. The same goes for incorrectly located branches.
Winter preparations
Honeysuckle is a frost-resistant plant. Practice has shown that the growth buds and the trunk tolerate temperatures of -50 ° C, and the roots and flower buds tolerate -40 ° C. Even young seedlings withstand frosts down to -8 ° С.
Curly varieties are not very winter-hardy and require shelter. They are placed on a previously prepared peat layer, covered with spruce branches and sprinkled with sawdust, with snowless winters - with snow. For the time of snowstorms they tie the branches so that they do not break. To protect the honeysuckle from birds and rodents, special nets and bags are used.
Honeysuckle breeding
A new plant can be obtained using seeds, cuttings, dividing an adult bush, layering.
- The first method is characterized by insufficient efficiency and laboriousness.
- Cuttings are harvested after the fruiting ends. Cut the shoots of the current year. Their length should not be less than 10 cm.
- To split the bush, you need a saw or an ax. For landing on another site, a part on which there are several branches and stems and a root about 200 mm long is suitable.
- In early June, annual honeysuckle shoots are bent to the loosened soil, attached with wire, covered with soil, watered. After the appearance of the roots, they are separated from the mother plant and transplanted.
Mr. Summer resident recommends: honeysuckle - a useful berry
The fruits are used for culinary, cosmetic and medical purposes. Medicines prepared from them are used to strengthen blood vessels, cleanse the body, and strengthen the immune system.
A significant reason for their admission are diseases of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system and genitourinary system. Honeysuckle is often included in creams and masks for rejuvenation. Additional properties include the rapid removal of puffiness and headache.
All parts of the bush have medicinal properties.
Honeysuckle can be used by pregnant women and during lactation only after consulting a doctor.
In addition to useful properties, the plant has contraindications. The list of relative restrictions includes children's age (up to 5 years) and pregnancy. The use of berries will have to be abandoned when signs of an allergic reaction appear.
