Honeysuckle Gerd

Gerda's honeysuckle is a worthy representative of a mass consumer variety, included in the State Register, due to its positive qualities - the ability to endure late frosts, bear fruit early, and give an excellent berry harvest in the early to mid-first summer month. The prevalence of this berry in Russia is caused by unpretentious care, unique taste characteristics, the presence of a huge amount of valuable components and the decorativeness of a shrub from which hedges can be easily formed.

Gerda's honeysuckle belongs to the Kamchatka group of honeysuckles, because it was obtained from the Blue Bird variety, which also belongs to it, but the source was pollinated with pollen from similar berries growing in different Russian regions. The creation of Gerda was carried out by researchers from the Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia. Lisavenko in the last years of the Soviet Union. Already in independent Russia, it was appreciated by gardeners and scientists, which led to the inclusion of honeysuckle in the register of the Federal Research Center of Agrobiology. Barnaul breeders made it an early ripening variety, but in some sources it is still positioned as a medium early berry.

Perfect for fruit growing, landscaping and garden plots of any size. It grows no higher than one and a half meters, has a spreading rounded crown, which is easy to form. Decorative in any period - with dark green large leaves, strewn with berries of the original form, in the autumn. By planting Gerd's honeysuckle, the gardener receives many benefits:

• variety with excellent taste, frost-resistant, early ripening;

• does not shower ripe berries, they hang on the branches for a long time due to the strong and durable stalk;

• in folk medicine, not only berries are used for treatment, but also leaves and branches;

• the crop is harvested by hand, or shaken off the bush on a pre-spread plastic wrap;

• does not grow above 1.5 m, but is decorative and can be planted with a double purpose - to decorate any territory and get a harvest of tasty and healthy berries.

In the scientific literature, it is invariably mentioned that Michurin was also interested in honeysuckle and its cultivation. Now statistics show that Russia is the leader in the prevalence of berries in the world. This is easily explained - since Soviet times, domestic breeders have been working on obtaining consumer varieties with excellent taste. Gerd's honeysuckle is invariably present in the rating of demand, compiled according to gardeners' reviews.

Berries with a thin skin. They do not tolerate transportation well, but they can be transported in one layer, frozen and dried when diluted for their own needs. Fruiting is extended in time, but there are no crop losses due to the strong stalk. The weight does not reach a gram, therefore it is considered average. The fruits are elongated-oval in shape (sometimes they are compared to barrels), of a blue-black hue, when ripe they are covered with a bluish-bluish bloom.

The berries are tender, sweet and sour, of excellent taste, with a high content of acids and sugars of plant origin, vitamins and minerals.In folk medicine, they are used to eliminate circulatory problems, optimize the state of blood vessels, strengthen immunity and treat anemia. Help with cerebrovascular accident. But due to the fact that keeping quality is poor even in the refrigerator, only part of the harvest obtained is consumed fresh.

Gerd's honeysuckle is perfectly frozen, dried, it can be used to make juice, compotes, preserves and jams, baked goods, used as an ingredient in winter prefabricated preparations. The aroma and useful components are preserved with any method of harvesting for the winter.

The ripening period is indicated in the middle - end of June, a cold summer or a region with a problematic climate may shift the dates, but not for long. Starting from the second year of cultivation, it is already possible to pick berries, but the real harvest begins from 3-4 years.

The variety has a high yield. With proper care, an average of more than 1.6 kg is obtained from the bush, but even without it, you can count on 1.2 kg.

Gerd's honeysuckle is registered as a self-infertile variety, but its own pollination is weak, therefore it is recommended to combine the shrub with other varieties of this plant, medium early, with similar flowering periods. Inedible honeysuckle is not suitable for this purpose, such bushes can make Gerda berries unusable.

Providing the plant with partial shade, sandy loam or loamy soil, timely watering, you can get an excellent return for the effort spent. The variety tolerates frosts, frosts in late spring, dry and cool summers with equal resistance. Sowing material is best purchased from a good nursery, but should be planted from mid-August to mid-autumn. After the end of fruiting, the growing season gradually slows down, at the end of summer it is an excellent time for planting, with a long adaptation period, which will help to easily endure the winter cold.

Some gardeners are sure that a shrub placed in a well-lit place gives the most sugary berries and a large yield. The need to adhere to the planting scheme, change of location after 2 decades, drainage equipment and limited watering (no more than 10 liters per bush) are mentioned as important conditions for good growth and yield. Young bushes need to be mulched with spruce branches or needles mixed with horse humus in the zone of the trunk circle.