Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle (Lonicera) is a genus of plants from the Honeysuckle family. It includes just under 200 different species, which are shrubs with straight, creeping or even climbing shoots. These shrubs received their scientific name in honor of Lonitzer, a botanist from Germany. At the same time, the bushes were originally going to be named after their most popular species grown in Europe - honeysuckle.

Honeysuckle is common in many countries of the Northern Hemisphere, although the largest number of their species is found in the East Asian region. Garden honeysuckle is especially popular in culture today. It is used as a berry bush, as well as to decorate the site. The fruits of this plant are distinguished by excellent taste and contain many useful properties. In addition, inedible honeysuckle species can be found in gardens, used as ornamental shrubs.

Description of honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is used as an ornamental or berry plant. They can be regular upright shrubs, creepers or climbing shrubs. Their foliage can be smooth or pubescent. Flowers appear most often in spring. They have an irregular structure and consist of five lobes. The color of the flowers is usually light - white, blue, pink or yellowish, but in some species the flowers can be colored in more saturated shades. Flowers appear at the ends of the shoots or in the axils of the leaves, in small inflorescences or in twos. Due to this arrangement, the berries obtained from them can grow together. Honeysuckle is considered a honey plant. Some species have fragrant flowers.

Most of the varieties of honeysuckle produce inedible fruits, but are widely used to decorate gardens or parks due to their unpretentiousness, beautiful flowers and bright color of berries. Among inedible species, fragrant honeysuckle (honeysuckle), Tatar, Maak, Korolkov are popular. They have more spectacular flowers, and their berries are colored orange or red.

Most often, gardeners grow the following types of honeysuckle as berry bushes: blue (or blue), and also edible. This number also includes the varieties obtained on their basis. In order for berries to form on such a honeysuckle, it is necessary to place several (at least 3-5) bushes on your site at once. Only in this case will they be able to get dusty and set fruit. It is believed that planting a large number of varieties helps to increase their yield. Honeysuckle fruits appear early, ahead of other garden berries.

Blue (blue) honeysuckle is a tall (up to 2.5 m) bush with upright woody shoots. Lonicera caerulea has a fairly neat crown. The bark of the branches is colored reddish-brown or gray and over time begins to recede in stripes. The foliage is elliptical. Its length reaches 6 cm, and its width is up to 3 cm. The flowers of this honeysuckle are a bit like bells and are colored light yellow. They form inflorescences that bloom in the leaf axils. After flowering, oblong berries of a dark blue color with a pleasant aroma are tied. The surface of the berries is covered with a bluish bloom. The fruit tastes sweet with bitterness and is similar to blueberries.

This species is distinguished by its rapid growth rates, as well as a long lifespan. One bush is capable of bearing fruit for about 80 years. But varieties of blue honeysuckle need to be pollinated. You can get a crop if you plant several bushes of different varieties together.

Edible honeysuckle is more compact in size. The height of the Lonicera edulis bush reaches only 1 m. It has thin greenish-purple shoots with dense pubescence. Over time, they thicken, and their surface is exposed. The bark takes on a yellowish-brown hue and may flake off. The crown of such a honeysuckle has a spherical shape. The foliage is oblong, up to 7 cm long, with rounded stipules. Young leaf blades also have pubescence. Over time, it decreases or disappears altogether. Flowers appear in pairs in the leaf axils. They are light yellow in color and have a funnel-shaped base. Flowering occurs in May-June. After it, blue berries appear with a bluish bloom. Their shape varies: it can be round, resemble an ellipse or a cylinder. The size of one berry reaches 1.2 cm in length. The color of the pulp is red-purple. Inside are small dark seeds.

Brief rules for growing honeysuckle

The table provides a brief summary of the rules for growing honeysuckle in the open field.

Planting honeysuckle outdoors

The best time to plant

Planting honeysuckle in open ground can be done both in spring and autumn. It is not recommended only to do it closer to the beginning of summer. The most active development of the shoots of the bush occurs in May-June. Spring planting must be done before the buds wake up in honeysuckle, and this happens before many other shrubs. In order not to harm the plant for sure, it is easier to plant the bushes in the fall. The best time for this is from late September to mid-October.

When purchasing seedlings, you should choose plants with a closed root system. They take root best of all in the ground, because during storage, their roots will certainly not dry out. You should also avoid too small (up to 30 cm) or tall (over 1.5 m) bushes. The first seedlings are considered underdeveloped, and adult bushes will take too long to adapt to a new place.Local or well-established varieties should be selected. All of them must have high compatibility, otherwise the berries on the bushes will not tie. In addition, when buying, you need to evaluate the type of seedling. It should have healthy and even branches and green leaves.

Before digging a hole, you need to choose the most optimal corner of the garden for the honeysuckle and make sure that the soil on it meets all the plant's requests. Honeysuckle grows best in light-colored lowlands. In partial shade, the yield will be much lower, and the growth rate of the bush will decrease. The landing area must be securely sheltered from the wind. Usually, the bushes are located next to the fence or in groups with other plantings. The group arrangement helps to attract pollinators.

The soil for growing honeysuckle should be sandy loam or loamy with a lot of nutrients. Some species prefer slightly waterlogged soils. Organic matter is additionally added to the depleted soil. Too acidic soil is corrected by adding dolomite flour or chalk. Heavy soils should be avoided: they yield lower yields, and the berries may begin to burn. In this case, a drainage layer up to 7 cm thick should be created for planting.

The honeysuckle seedlings themselves should be carefully inspected before planting. All affected or broken areas of roots or shoots are removed from them. If the roots are too large, they are shortened to a length of about 30 cm.

Landing rules

For planting honeysuckle seedlings, pits are prepared with a depth and width of about 40 cm. The distance between the bushes depends on the size of the variety and can be from 1 to 2 m. In one place, the bush can grow for at least 20 years.

When preparing the pit, the upper part of the soil should be separated and mixed with rotted manure (up to 12 kg) or the same amount of humus. About 300 g of ash, up to 100 g of double superphosphate and up to 30 g of potassium sulfate are also added to the mixture. The resulting mixture is placed in a pit, forming a mound from it. The roots of the seedling are placed on top of it and carefully spread them. Then the voids are filled with loose earth. In this case, the root collar of the bush should be slightly deepened. It should be in the ground at a depth of 3-5 cm. After planting, the soil is tamped, creating a kind of side at a distance of 30 cm from the bush. It will help retain water in the hole. Then the seedlings are watered abundantly (up to 10 liters of water per plant). After complete absorption of moisture, the trunk circle is mulched with peat, dry soil or humus.

Honeysuckle care

Caring for honeysuckle bushes is practically the same as caring for other berry plants. Planting will need periodic watering, weeding and loosening of the soil, as well as fertilization. In addition, the shoots of the bush are systematically pruned and the honeysuckle is regularly checked for the presence of pests. The yield of plantings, as well as their appearance, directly depends on their grooming.

Within 3 years after planting a honeysuckle bush in the ground, it will need high hilling (it is carried out in the spring) and watering. After them, the soil in the area of ​​the hole is loosened, removing all weeds. To reduce the number of waterings, this area can be mulched. During this period, the bushes do not need pruning.

Watering

Watering honeysuckle is carried out not too often, trying to be guided by the weather. During periods of drought, as well as at the very end of spring, it is necessary to water the bushes more abundantly. A significant lack of moisture at this time will greatly affect the taste of future berries: they will have a more pronounced bitterness. In hot and dry summers, the berries become sweeter and less sour. In rainy weather, they accumulate more vitamin C, which makes the berries sour, but healthier.

If it rains regularly, watering is carried out up to 4 times during the period of active growth. Watering rate: a bucket of water per bush.After them, as well as after precipitation, it is necessary to slightly loosen the soil surface at a depth of no more than 7 cm directly through the mulch layer (if any). The roots of the honeysuckle are shallow and can be damaged by this procedure.

Top dressing

The first couple of years after planting the honeysuckle bush in the ground, you do not need to feed it: the plant will have enough nutrients introduced into the hole during planting. After this period, large top dressing is carried out at intervals of a year, in the autumn period. For this, organic matter is used with the addition of mineral fertilizers. At the very end of autumn, in the soil for 1 sq. m, wood ash (about 100 g), double superphosphate (about 40 g) and compost (5 kg) should be added.

Spring feeding is carried out annually. Before the buds open, the plantings are fertilized with ammonium nitrate. With dry application per 1 sq. m territory will need about 15 g. Instead, you can use a solution of urea (1 tbsp. spoon per 10 liters of water).

After harvesting the fruits, the bushes are fed again. Ammophoska or nitrophoska is added under them (25-30 g per 1 bucket of water). Alternatively, you can dilute the slurry in a bucket of water in a 1: 4 ratio. In autumn, you can also mulch the near-trunk area and the area near the bushes with a layer of peat up to 5 cm thick. It will serve as both shelter and fertilizer.

Transfer

If an adult honeysuckle bush needs a transplant, it will take a lot of effort. Having determined the boundaries of the root system, the plant must be dug up and pulled out of the ground. The root system of the bush is quite compact. The procedure is carried out in the summer, after picking the berries. The transplanted honeysuckle takes root well in a new place. For better rooting, the transferred bush will require more frequent watering.

Fruiting period

Honeysuckle begins to bear fruit earlier than other garden shrubs: in the first half of summer. In most of the varieties, ripe berries begin to fall from the bushes, so you should not delay picking them. Harvesting is carried out as soon as the fruits acquire a rich blue color. When growing a non-dropping variety, you can wait about a week after that.

If the berries are already beginning to fall off, you can speed up the collection process by spreading a cloth or film under the bush. The fruits are shaken directly onto it, trying to be careful not to damage the berries.

Due to their delicate skin and juicy pulp, they should be stored in small containers only in a couple of layers. Fresh, such a crop is stored for a very short time, so it is immediately put into processing: they freeze it, make jam, or grind it and sprinkle it with sugar. In the latter case, the storage characteristics depend on the proportions. If berries and sugar are mixed in equal parts, the mixture is stored in the refrigerator. If 1 part of the berries had 1.25 parts of sugar, you can keep the dessert at room conditions. This mixture allows you to preserve all the valuable qualities of berries, rich in vitamins. It can be used to treat colds, especially when combined with other berries such as raspberries or strawberries. You can also make homemade wines based on honeysuckle. For any processing, varieties with sour or slightly bitter berries are best suited. Dessert varieties with sweet fruits are usually eaten fresh.

Pruning honeysuckle

When pruning is done

The first 2-3 years after planting, the honeysuckle bushes are not pruned. Older plants should be pruned only in case of strong thickening or too rapid growth of branches. Most often, for the first time, honeysuckle is cut only 7-8 years after planting. This procedure is carried out in the fall.

Some gardeners believe that the first pruning of honeysuckle should be done immediately after planting a young plant. This promotes the development of a stronger and more branchy bush. Its shoots are shortened to a length of 7-8 cm, and only then take a long break until the branches thicken. The exception is weak and small seedlings. They are not cut off immediately, but a year after planting.

How to prune honeysuckle

In the spring, you should carefully inspect the bushes and carry out sanitary pruning: remove all frost-bitten ends of the shoots, as well as diseased or broken branches. The second small pruning is carried out after picking the berries, correcting the shape of the bush if necessary.

If the honeysuckle bush has grown too large, you need to thin it out. Thickening of the shoots interferes with normal air circulation and light penetration, so some branches should be removed. The first to be removed are shoots growing directly from the ground, as well as all dry or broken branches. Thinning is also carried out inside the bush. This will enhance the nutrition of the entire plant.

Correct pruning of honeysuckle also helps to improve yields. The largest number of berries appears on annual shoots, therefore, young shoots should not be shortened too much. If the shoots have a weak growth, but a strong base, you can shorten their tops. Old unfertile branches are removed every 2-3 years, trying to leave at least 5 large trunks on the bush. The lowest shoots are also pruned, making it difficult to process the root area.

Old (from 15 years old) honeysuckle can be radically rejuvenated. In this case, most of the branches should be cut from the bush, except for fresh growth near the stump. At its expense, the plant should recover in about 2-3 years.

Honeysuckle in autumn

When all the berries on the honeysuckle bush are collected, the bush will begin to recuperate before the upcoming winter. During this period, all basic honeysuckle care procedures are carried out. Plants are watered and the necessary pruning is carried out. Even without flowers or berries, honeysuckle bushes are considered a decoration of the garden, so timely care for them allows you to maintain their attractive appearance. Any negative changes will indicate the appearance of a pest or disease. In this case, appropriate processing should be carried out as early as possible.

The degree of frost resistance depends on the variety, but in general, honeysuckle can withstand significant cold and will not need shelter. The only exceptions are young seedlings. The tops of the shoots of an adult bush sometimes freeze slightly, but this practically does not affect its fruiting and external decorativeness.

Honeysuckle breeding methods

Honeysuckle can reproduce in several ways: by seed or vegetatively. The seed method is used less frequently. Edible honeysuckle develops quickly from seeds, but due to cross-pollination, such plants do not retain the characteristics of the variety and are usually inferior to varietal specimens in their qualities. Most often, breeders resort to such reproduction.

Bushes over 6 years old can reproduce by dividing, but for large bushes over 15 years old, in this case, you will have to arm yourself with a saw. The most common methods for obtaining young plants are cuttings and the formation of layers.

Growing honeysuckle from seeds

To improve your chances of growing a sweet-fruited plant, it is worth collecting seeds from the sweetest varieties of edible honeysuckle. When doing cross-pollination on your own, it is advised to use at least three of these varieties. For collection, use the largest overripe berries. They are crushed and seeds are selected. There are different ways to do this. The gruel from the pulp with seeds is soaked in water: the pulp should float, and the seeds will sink to the bottom. Thanks to this method, the seed will be completely ready for drying and can be stored in a clean state. But the presence of pulp does not affect germination, so the berries can be crushed directly on paper or a napkin. This pad will absorb excess juice. In this form, they are thoroughly dried and tidied up until spring. In the case of summer sowing (immediately after harvest), it is not necessary to dry the seeds. It is enough to use crushed fruits.

The storage conditions for seeds also depend on the sowing time. If they will be sown in the same summer or before winter, the seed should be stored in the dark at room temperature.If the seeds are kept until spring, they are kept cool. Stratification for 1-3 months will also help to activate the growth of older seeds. Proper storage conditions can extend their germination up to 7 years, although under normal conditions the seeds begin to gradually lose their ability to germinate within a couple of years after collection.

In some cases, the seeds are purchased at the store. They can be already prepared for sowing or still be inside the berries.

Sowing is carried out in spring, summer or towards the end of autumn. Spring sowing for seedlings insures the seedlings from frost, allowing them to develop significantly and get stronger before the first wintering. It is held in March-April. The seed is preliminarily kept in a pale solution of potassium permanganate for a day. The containers are filled with soil, including peat, humus and sand, and then watered well. When sowing, the distance between the seeds can be about 2-10 cm. To place the seeds, prepare grooves or distribute them superficially, sprinkling them with a layer of earth up to 1 cm thick. Cover the crops with a foil and place them in a bright, warm place. Fresh seeds germinate within 3 weeks. A pick is carried out only when the crops are thickened. The size of the shoots to be transplanted should be about 3 cm.

Growing honeysuckle in containers makes it easier to care for fragile sprouts and also increases the chances of seeds germinating. Early varieties can be used for propagation immediately after harvest. To protect the sprouts from the heat, a bulky wooden container is also used for sowing. In winter, you can dig such containers into the ground or take them to a more protected, frost-free, but cool (up to 10 degrees) corner. To protect against frost, seedlings will need a thick layer of mulch or shelter (spruce branches can be used). In winter, the plot with crops is additionally covered with snow. In the spring, the shelter is gradually removed, trying to be guided by the weather. The pick is carried out closer to summer, using the beds for growing or immediately planting the plants in the final place.

Sowing in the winter makes it a little easier to care for plants, and also promotes the germination of seeds of varieties that especially need stratification. They begin to prepare a sowing bed in about a month, removing the weeds and adding the necessary fertilizers there. You can also use seedling boxes. The seeds are not sown too deeply. They will not need shelter. In the spring, after the snow melts, friendly shoots appear. If the seeds were sown in a container, it can be transferred from the garden to the greenhouse in early spring. This will speed up the sprouting. In the middle of summer, seedlings that have reached a height of about 10 cm dive. The bushes are planted in the final place next year.

The first fruits on the plants obtained in this way will appear in 3-4 years. If there were too many seedlings, during this period they can be thinned out, leaving only specimens with the most delicious fruits. Excess bushes can not be thrown away, but used for decorative purposes. The seedling honeysuckle will begin to bear fruit abundantly in about the 7th year of cultivation.

Propagation of honeysuckle by cuttings

Cutting, like other vegetative propagation methods, makes it possible for sure to obtain a plant of the required variety. Harvesting of planting material is carried out in early spring, before bud break. To do this, you should choose strong shoots of the last year with a diameter of at least 7 mm and a length of 15-18 cm. Cut cuttings are planted in a greenhouse or on a garden bed after thawing the soil. Sections are buried 2/3 into the soil, leaving only a couple of upper buds on the surface. For faster rooting, they are insulated with a covering material. This process usually takes about a month.

Combined cuttings

In addition to annual shoots, so-called combined cuttings are used to propagate honeysuckle bushes. These segments represent a fresh young shoot with the heel of the annual branch on which it grew.They are cut after the flowering of honeysuckle, in late spring. The cuttings are planted on a bed to a depth of no more than 5 cm, and covered with a film on top. You will have to water the seedlings often - up to 3 times a day. When the tops of the cuttings grow, they can be considered rooted.

Green cuttings

In summer, honeysuckle can be propagated by young shoots without "heels". They are cut when green fruits are already formed on the bush. Earlier dates - the period of the most active development of young branches, when the berries have not yet set, reduce the percentage of survival of the planting material. At this time, the branches are considered not yet ripe. When bent, a suitable shoot should break with a noticeable crunch. If he just bends, the time has not come yet. Later cutting of cuttings - in July, when they have already begun to grow stiff, complicates the wintering of young seedlings.

For cutting, shoots are chosen as thick as a pencil (0.5 cm), choosing for this a cool day or morning hours. The length of the segments should be about 10 cm. Each should have 2 pairs of leaves and one internode. If internodes are short, there can be up to 3 of them on the handle. The upper cut is made at a right angle 1 cm below the kidneys. The lower one is cut obliquely. The lower foliage is cut off, and the upper plates are shortened by 2/3.

Rooting is carried out according to the general principle. In this case, the cuttings are positioned slightly at an angle. The seedlings should be kept in moist soil and high humidity should be created for them. To improve survival, the slices can be treated with a growth stimulant. In greenhouse conditions, rooting occurs in 1-2 weeks. But you should not move such seedlings into the ground by autumn. They are not yet sufficiently developed to withstand the snow cover and its melting. Usually, the cuttings are kept in a greenhouse until the film is removed, and before the onset of cold weather they are covered with spruce branches. You can transplant them to the chosen place next year. Fruiting can begin from about the 3rd year.

Reproduction by layering

Layering is the easiest way to get new honeysuckle. In June, the area near the bush is well loosened, trying to slightly raise the ground level. From the bottom of the crown, 1-2 annual shoots are chosen. They are folded back and fixed on the ground in several places. After that, the stems are covered with soil about 5 cm.This area must be watered regularly throughout the summer. By the next spring, when the cuttings have taken root, they are transplanted to their final location. In just a couple of years, such a plant turns into an adult bush.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

For division, use honeysuckle bushes at least 6 years old. In autumn or spring, before budding, it is dug out of the ground. With a saw or shears, the plant is divided into parts. All sections must be disinfected, and then the resulting sections are seated in the prepared holes.

Overly adults and large specimens are not recommended to be divided in this way - such plants do not tolerate this procedure well and may die.

Honeysuckle diseases

Honeysuckle has good disease resistance, but it can sometimes get sick. Among the main diseases of the bush are fungal infections (powdery mildew, spots, blackening of branches, etc.). They usually develop on plantings during periods of high humidity. Each of these diseases has its own symptoms. In some cases, the foliage of the honeysuckle will begin to dry, turn yellow, become stained or fall off prematurely. Sometimes the stems of the bush turn black or acquire a brown color. Fungicides are used against fungal diseases. The plantings should be treated with Bordeaux mixture, copper oxychloride or other means of similar action.

If the bushes are struck by a viral disease (mosaic-rezuha, manifested in yellow-white mosaic spots on the leaves, or mottled foliage), it will not work to cure the plants. They will have to be dug up and destroyed.

The best way to fight any disease is the regular preventive treatment of the bushes with fungicidal preparations.It is carried out twice a season: in early spring, before the active development of the bushes, and then at the very end of autumn, before the onset of cold weather. In addition, you should initially acquire healthy strong seedlings, and in the future follow all the rules of agricultural technology so that the plantings retain their good immunity.

Honeysuckle pests and control

Honeysuckle also rarely suffers from insects, although a number of pests that settle on fruit plants can still negatively affect the growth of bushes. These include honeysuckle aphids, miners, striped sawflies, speckled moth species, false scale insects, and spider mites. Because of the latter, the foliage of the plants is covered with a cobweb. Honeysuckle fingerfly affects the ripening of berries: its caterpillars cause premature color, drying and falling of fruits.

Means for controlling insects are chosen depending on the nature of the harm they cause. So against species gnawing foliage, they use Eleksar, Decis or Inta-Vir. Such pests do not greatly affect the development of the bush, but they reduce its decorative effect. If there are few caterpillars, you can pick them up by hand. Actellik, Confidor, Rogor and other similar remedies will help against insects that feed on plant juices.

At the same time, chemical pest control should be carried out only after harvesting, but in any case, it is better to choose biological products. To carry out processing in June, when the berries ripen, is not worth it. Varieties with increased resistance to a particular type of insect can also protect against the appearance of pests. You should pay attention to this when buying planting material.

Honeysuckle varieties with photos and descriptions

Edible honeysuckle includes species with rich blue fruits with a bluish bloom. In addition to the blue and edible honeysuckle described above, these include the following:

• Altai - bushes up to 1.5 m high with a grayish-brown color of the bark. The flowers of altaica are yellowish in color, the fruits are similar in taste to blueberries and blueberries. Fruiting occurs in the 2nd half of summer.
• Kamchatka - two-meter bushes with thick branches. L. kamschatica is the most unpretentious honeysuckle with berries that resemble blueberries.
• Turchaninov - meter bushes with a spherical crown. The shoot, unlike foliage, does not have pubescence. The taste of turczaninowi berries can be sweet or sour with bitterness.

On the basis of these most common species in gardening, all kinds of honeysuckle varieties are obtained, differing in the ripening time of berries, their taste and the appearance of the bushes.

Depending on the ripening time, all such varieties are divided into three main groups:

• Early - ripen by mid-June (Assol, Gerda, Cinderella, Roxana, Sibiryachka, etc.)
• Average - begin to ripen in the second half of June (Bakchar giant, Velvet, Berel, etc.)
• Late - ripen by July (Selena, Sirius, etc.)

Classification by bush size also divides plants into three types:

• Low - up to 1.5 m high (Souvenir - up to 1.5 m, Ramenskaya - up to 1.4 m, Violet - up to 1.3 m)
• Average - up to 2 m high (Cinderella - up to 1.6 m, Kingfisher - up to 2 m, Korchaga - up to 1.7 m)
• High - about or more than 2 m high (Nymph and Fire Opal - from 1.8 m, Bakchar giant and Fortuna - about 2 m, Leningrad giant - up to 2.5 m)

Honeysuckle varieties can also vary in fruit size. They can be small (infructescence up to 1 g), large (up to 1.5 g) and very large (over 1.5 g). They can also differ in yield. With proper care, 2-4 kg of berries can be harvested from the most fruitful varieties.

Of the whole variety of honeysuckle varieties in gardens and vegetable gardens, the following are often found:

• Cinderella - forms sweet berries that are considered dessert. But the variety is considered to be fast-falling.
• Princess Diana - forms bushes up to 2 m tall, with bare stems and foliage with a rounded top. The berries are large, up to 4 cm long and up to 1 cm in diameter, sweet with sourness.
• Titmouse - a large bush up to 2 m tall with a rounded crown.The berries are not bitter, but have a delicate and thin skin.
• Souvenir - bushes up to 1.5 m tall with an oval-shaped crown. Shoots are slightly pubescent. The foliage is oval. The berries have a slightly pointed top and a sweet and sour taste.
• Violet - a medium-sized bush, forming large dessert fruits with a thick skin. Ripe berries fall off the branches quickly, making it easier to harvest by shaking off.
• Shahinya - the bushes have the shape of a cone up to 1.8 m high. The variety is used both as a berry and as a decorative one. The berries are in the shape of an elongated cylinder and have a sweet and sour taste.

Due to the fact that honeysuckle berries often fall from the bush immediately after full maturity, many gardeners prefer to grow varieties, the ripe fruits of which continue to hold on to the bushes for some time. Among them:

• Nymph - forms fast-growing sprawling bushes with pubescent shoots. The foliage is oval, pointed. Fusiform in shape, often slightly curved. The taste is tart, sweet and sour.
• Fire opal - bushes of a rounded shape, prone to thickening. The berries are small or medium, sweet and sour with a slight bitterness.
• Omega - mid-season variety, resistant to diseases and pests (except for aphids). Forms a ball-shaped bush. Dessert berries, sweet with sourness.
• Roxanne - forms undersized bushes and large sweet berries with a strawberry flavor.
• Siberian - bushes of medium height with a hemispherical crown. Berries are considered dessert.

Honeysuckle properties: benefits and harms

Useful properties of honeysuckle

Honeysuckle fruits have an impressive range of beneficial properties. This is due to their composition: berries are rich in vitamins and substances valuable for the body. They include vitamins A and C, B vitamins, a number of acids (malic, citric, and oxalic), tannins, glucose, sucrose, as well as fructose and galactose. Honeysuckle fruits also contain pectins and a number of trace elements. These include potassium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, iodine, etc.

This composition gives the fruit the ability to improve digestion by stimulating gastric secretion. In addition, the berries are capable of acting as a diuretic, laxative or fixative or choleretic agent. They can also be used as an antibacterial and antioxidant medicine. You can use the fruits for general strengthening of the body. Honeysuckle is useful as a vitamin supplement recommended for heart disease. Its fruits strengthen blood vessels and can have an antipyretic effect.

Traditional healers with the help of berries cope with hypertension, anemia, as well as stomach problems. Honeysuckle juice is used to remove lichens, and with a decoction of the fruits, they treat a sore throat and cleanse the eyes.

For medicinal purposes, not only edible plant species are used. So the branches of fragrant honeysuckle, also called honeysuckle, are used in folk medicine for the preparation of medicinal decoctions. They help with kidney disease and loss of appetite, and are also used for cosmetic purposes - to strengthen hair. In Tibet, honeysuckle bark is used as a pain reliever for migraines and rheumatism. The shoots of the plant help against dropsy. The extract promotes the treatment of eczema.

Contraindications

Honeysuckle fruits with edible dark blue berries can be eaten safely. Do not just overeat them: in excessively large quantities they can cause allergies, stomach upset or muscle spasms.

Red or orange berries of inedible honeysuckle are used for medicinal purposes only if the recipe is verified and well known. If you have any doubts, such treatment should be avoided, otherwise you can earn poisoning.