Cultivar 1890: Blue Belle

Blue Belle is a haskap or honeyberry cultivar mentioned in a University of Saskatchewan report on Canadian haskap growing and breeding. The report lists it with Russian cultivars sold by Jim Gilbert's One Green Earth Nursery in Oregon. These cultivars had anglicized names using the word "Blue." [S1]

The report does not give Blue Belle's parentage, breeder, release year, or original Russian name. It identifies the cultivar by its commercial introduction route, not by a formal breeding record. [S1]

The main note on Blue Belle is evaluative. The University of Saskatchewan report says Blue Belle and Berry Blue were favourites in 2003. [S1] The supplied source gives no specific details for Blue Belle on fruit size, flavor, texture, season, storage, or plant habit.

Blue Belle fits within the report's broader Lonicera caerulea haskap context. The report compares Russian, Japanese type, Kuril Island, and Canadian boreal material for northern production. [S1] The same page says the University of Saskatchewan collection included named Russian cultivars, Japanese type selections, Kuril Island types, boreal accessions, and thousands of controlled cross seedlings by 2008. [S1]

Hardiness is supported only at the crop and program level, not for Blue Belle specifically. The report says haskap plants in the program were extremely hardy, with no observed winter damage and survival through a -47°C winter. [S1] This supports Blue Belle's relevance to northern haskap collections, but it is not a direct cultivar hardiness trial statement for Blue Belle.

Summary source basis

• S1: Growing Haskap in Canada

This summary currently draws chiefly from Haskap Breeding & Production - Final Report, January 2012, with 1 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Blue Belle is reported as a notable Russian cultivar sold through One Green Earth Nursery, with breeder/selection origin implied by commercial introduction by Jim Gilbert (Oregon).”
— ^[2]

“Blue Belle was one of the favourites in 2003.”
— ^[2]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• Mr. Gilbert’s nursery, ’One Green Earth’ has been selling Russian cultivars with anglicized names that have the word ‘Blue’ in them. Notable are the varieties ‘Blue Belle and Berry Blue which were our favourites in 2003.’Growing Haskap in Canada, p3
• Mr. Gilbert’s nursery, ’One Green Earth’ has been selling Russian cultivars with anglicized names that have the word ‘Blue’ in them. Notable are the varieties ‘Blue Belle and Berry Blue which were our favourites in 2003.’Growing Haskap in Canada, p3
• Notable are the varieties 'Blue Belle and Berry Blue which were our favourites in 2003.Haskap Breeding & Production - Final Report, January 2012, p118
• Notable are the varieties 'Blue Belle and Berry Blue which were our favourites in 2003.Haskap Breeding & Production - Final Report, January 2012, p118

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context