General description: The Klon 44 Kamchatka honeysuckle is a Polish variety originating in Skierniewice. The shrub grows to about 1.6 m in height and 1.9 m in width and when it blooms, it’s bestrewn with petite, prolific flowers of very high fertility. Kamchatka honeysuckles are known the world over under many names, such as the sweetberry honeysuckle, fly honeysuckle, blue-berried honeysuckle, Haskap berry or simply the honeyberry – all these names represent this amazing plant of extraordinary properties. The Kamchatka honeysuckle’s popularity grows day by day, largely owing to the rise of health food trends. The Klon 44 variety yields delectable and very healthy fruit, therefore it is worth seriously considering cultivating it in one’s own garden, especially since it’s easy to do so. 

Flowers: This honeysuckle’s flowers are modest, of a creamy-yellow colour, and are naturally resistant to spring frosts. It is a cross-pollinating plant, which means that to gain the highest possible fruit yield, it needs to be planted in the near vicinity of other subspecies of Kamchatka honeysuckles. Klon 44 is an excellent pollinator for the Zojka and Wojtek varieties.

Blooming: The Klon 44 honeysuckle blooms in April.  

Leaves: This honeysuckle’s leaves are oval and green in colour. Fresh foliage is slightly tomentose (fuzzy).

Fruit: Koln 44’s fruit has a jugular shape with a flat bottom. It has navy-coloured skin with a silverish, way coating. The berries are very flavourful, sweet with a slightly sour edge. The riper the fruit, the sweeter the taste. Kamchatka honeysuckle’s berries are rich in healthful nutrients, such as pectins, organic acids, vitamin c and sugars. Moreover, pigments contained in the fruit have remarkable properties of strengthening blood vessels and removing heavy metals and other toxins from the body.

Ripening: The Klon 44 variety bears fruit from mid-June do mid-July. The first berries may appear just a year after planting. In the second and third summer, one shrub can produce 0.5 to 1 kg of fruit, and in later years up to 5 kg of berries can be harvested. Kamchatka honeysuckles can bear fruit for as long as 30 seasons. The Klon 44 variety is suited for both manual and mechanical harvesting.

Cultivation requirements: Kamchatka honeysuckles are easy to cultivate. They tolerate sandy and dry soils, however they grow best in slightly acidic, moderately moist, sandy loam soils, preferably in sunny positions, although slightly shaded spots are also well tolerated by the plant.

Pruning: During the first five years after planting Kamchatka honeysuckles need absolutely no pruning. The first thinning out to remove old shoots is to be done after about five years (depending on whether the shrub needs this). Thanks to such pruning, the fresh new shoots will gain access to more light and we gain the possibility of shaping the shrub to our liking. Pruning can be done before flowering after the fruit is harvested.

Overwintering: This honeysuckle is extremely frost resistant. It does not freeze in temperatures as low as -45°C and flowers withstand temperatures of down to -8°C. At the beginning of November, young shrubs should be covered in soil with peat so that a mound of about 30 cm in height is formed over the plant.

Origin: Poland.