Haskap, aka blue honeysuckle

I've been thinking of writing something up about Lonicera caerulea, or blue honeysuckle, for some time now, but having run across this article by Maxine Thompson over at the Home Orchard Society website, it seems a lot easier to just link to it.

"Haskap", apparently is the name used for L. caerulea by the Ainu of Hokkaido, in northern Japan. Apparently some one's decided to stick with this name to differentiate it from the Russian types which are already being marketed as "honeyberries". It's all just blue honeysuckle to me.

I've heard varying reports on the quality of this stuff, ranging from "wonderful!" to "not worth growing". I've seen the plants a few times (blue honeysuckle, not Haskap per se), but never with ripe fruit, so I can't vouch for it myself. Dr. Thompson and collaborators have begun an actual breeding program, which is exciting...I'm always pleased to see a new fruit breeding program spring into existence, particularly in this country.