Sunday, October 11, 2009

Haskap: U.S.A. Inquiries

Haskap Canada has received numerous inquiries from people in the United States about the availability of haskap there. In response to these inquiries the president of Haskap Canada, Dave Negrych, contacted Dr. Maxine Thompson in hopes that she might assist him in tracking down contacts in that country who can supply edible blue honeysuckle. He already knew that Dr. Thompson is a researcher and does not supply plants. But he received a most gracious and encouraging response from her. We publish it here, with her permission:
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Dear Dave,

Yes, I am familiar with your website and blog. You folks do a wonderful job of promoting blue honeysuckle. There are several US nurseries that sell the Russian cultivars, called "honeyberries". Jim Gilbert of the nursery, 'One Green World' in Oregon has been selling this form of honeysuckle for several years and many nurseries have his selections. However, no nursery in the U.S. has the Japanese subspecies, emphyllocalyx, that I introduced from Japan... My selections are still very experimental because they are not old enough to have good information about their performance. This form of blue honeysuckle is called 'haskap' in Japan and I had hoped to retain this name specifically for the Japanese subspecies in the US in order to differentiate it from honeyberries. The two types have different climatic adaptation, with honeyberries doing poorly in moderate climate regions and Japanese forms well adapted to more moderate climates. However, I have no control over the name and I see that some Canadian nurseries are equating the 2 names. Bob Bors has decided to use it for his selections.... Bob is my friend and I have no quarrel with his choice of nomenclature.

Maxine

(Dr. Maxine Thompson)

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