Sugar Mountain® Eisbar Honeysuckle

Light Needs

Partial Sun to Full Sun

(At Least 5 Hours of Direct Sunlight)

Mature Height

5 - 6 Feet

Mature Spread

5 - 6 Feet

Growing Zones

3 to 6

Looking to add some yum to your landscape? Give this North American native plant a try. Mature plants yield loads of elongated blue berries that taste like the love child of a blueberry and a raspberry. The deer-resistant mounded shrub is easy to grow in full or part sun in average garden soil and makes an ideal addition to any home vegetable garden or orchard.

This plant is all about harvesting loads of delicious fruits, which are up to an inch and a half wide and a half inch wide and loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. They are delicious fresh on cereal or in fruit salads or smoothies, and can also be juiced. Bake with them as you would any berry—think pancakes, muffins, quick breads, pies, and cobblers. Also delicious made into jam or jelly and added to homemade ice cream. If the harvest overloads your kitchen, you can freeze the berries for later use. Just rinse them off, gently dry between paper towels then freeze them in a single layer on a rimmed baking pan. Pop the frozen berries off the pan and store them in a freezer container or zippered plastic bag for up to a year.

Sugar Mountain Eisbar Honeysuckle Care

Plant this shrub in full sun for maximum fruiting, although it will still produce plenty of berries in part sun conditions. It grows best in moisture-retentive soil that drains well. Keep watered the first year to establish fully; after that it requires minimal care. Just apply some controlled-release fertilizer in spring and watch for the waxy white flowers in summer that turn into those luscious berries in early fall. Pruning Sugar Mountain Eisbar Honeysuckle is not necessary if you site the plant where it has room to reach its mature size. Established plants may be trimmed or thinned up to 25 percent in winter or early spring.

Just average water is required so no pampering is needed. The soil should be well draining but retain moisture. It is winter hardy and heat tolerant from Zones 4a-8b! ‘Red Balloon’ also tolerates a bit more shade for those lacking an area for full sun. While ‘Red Balloon’ will produce berries for better fruit production plant with either ‘Alleghany’ or ‘Mohican’.

Sugar Mountain Eisbar Honeysuckle Spacing

This is a large, mounded shrub that gets 5-6 feet tall and wide, so give it plenty of space when you plant it. Be sure you site it where you can access the berries all the way around. If you want to plant a mass of these fruiting wonders, space them a little closer, 3-4 feet on center.