The haskap ‘Indigo Gem’ (Lonicera caerulea) allows for ideal cross-pollination with ‘Aurora‘. Our first cultivar to ripen in June, sweet and sour in balance, a firm fruit extending its conservation and a pleasant chewiness. The most productive of the ‘Indigo’ series, as much as ‘Aurora’, with a smaller fruit. Its shape is more open, in drooping arches. Haskap trees are the first to wake up when the snow has melted. This shrub from the global subarctic, North America, Europe, Asia, has no time to lose to take advantage of the short seasons.

The haskap ‘Indigo Gem’ rings the flower bells for the bumblebees who open the ball in creamy white, then, in its second year, quickly, gives the kick-off to the fruit pickers, while the strawberries turn red. It will fruit for more than 30 years. Three times more antioxidant than blueberries, they are called long-life berries in Japan (Haskap). Sometimes secluded in acidic peat bogs, it adapts to clayey soils even when soggy, liking rich and humid soils covered with organic mulch that retains moisture at least until the fruits swell with juice.

An elongated beauty creamed with a cosmetic bloom, the haskap is reminiscent of the blueberry with its melting pulp containing a few wild blackberry seeds and the bittersweet acidity of rhubarb and blackcurrant, well-measured when ripe. More than welcome in jams and other sweet recipes, its pronounced complex flavor also complements savory dishes. Blue long before ripening, they fall to the ground when it is time to bring the basket, or the canvas placed under the shrub that can be shaken for efficiency.

Some will prefer to cover it with a net because in some years, bird damage quickly empties it. Although few insects get involved, after the harvest, from mid-summer, heat waves and drought can strike without affecting it, as can leaf diseases, although the aesthetic damage can make sensitive gardeners stop their hearts when they discover plants that are all dry, all gray… all bare, then, surprised, celebrate the resurrection at Easter when it is time to prune the old wood whose yields are declining. The modern varieties that we select are more resistant to diseases, but there is no guarantee.

Camouflage these small shrubs behind plants of similar height that take off late, such as the Echinacea ‘Magnus Supérieur’ for example. These will not steal the show from the playful bumblebees, then will take over the landscape when the leaves fade.