Not all honeysuckles threaten to take over the world. And these more timid species still abound in qualities. Take, for example, winter honeysuckle, a plant most appreciated in late winter or early spring. Its flowers, though not particularly showy, emit a powerful, lemony fragrance over a long period of time.
One of my favorite honeysuckles — one of my favorite plants, in fact — is trumpet honeysuckle. The flowers, unfortunately, have no fragrance, but they make up for that in ostentatious beauty with their clusters of long, red trumpets joined at their bases. Another favorite of mine is woodbine honeysuckle. Its flowers are more subdued, in pastel purple, pink, and yellow, but they flare wide open and, according to some people not me , have a fragrance.
Both trumpet and woodbine honeysuckle are twining vines that burst into bloom in early summer, then continue the show at a more restrained pace for almost the rest of the season. To me, every bare telephone pole cries out for this vine. Get plant information, gardening solutions, design inspiration and more in our weekly newsletter.
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Discover unique garden products curated by the Garden Design editors, plus items you can use to solve problems in your garden right now, and best sellers from around the web. Planting Design Discover the right plants for your garden. Common types of honeysuckle: L. The slender 2-inch blooms usually open white and turn pale yellow flushed with pink or pale purple. Although it has origins in Europe, North Africa and Asia, this species has become naturalized in some areas of North America, including New England and the Pacific Northwest and is even listed as invasive in Oregon and Washington states.
The long, tapering flowers are particularly attractive to hummingbirds but lack the intense fragrance of the common honeysuckle. The orange-throated scarlet flowers are lightly fragrant and bloom from late spring through October. Also has a cultivar of the same name L. Listed as invasive in Illinois. When to plant: Spring or fall.
Where to plant: Choose a site with moist, well-drained soil where your honeysuckle plant will receive full sun. Watering: Water honeysuckles thoroughly after planting, and give them a good soaking once a week until the roots become established. Keeping honeysuckles healthy: Honeysuckles are seldom troubled by serious pests or diseases, although they are susceptible to aphids and mites, which can easily be controlled with insecticidal soap. But if you want to create a more artful arrangement of branches, follow these tips: Be sure to place your support in the ground before planting to avoid root damage to an established plant.
Once your vine takes off, train it to your liking and prevent tangled branches by securing the offshoots with strips of nylon hosiery or another strong, flexible material.
Over time, honeysuckles tend to become woody at the base. Cutting back one or two branches near the ground will encourage new replacement growth. The best time to prune these varieties is in late winter or early spring to give the vine time to produce flowering shoots.
Honeysuckle will perfume your garden in winter and summer alike, depending on the variety you opt for. Choose between the twining and climbing crimson and golden flowered ones with large luxuriously scented flowers or the fast-growing hardy bushes with smaller flowers but nevertheless equally delightfully fragranced.
Honeysuckle proper name Lonicera is also a magnet for butterflies who love to drowse on their slender tubular flowers and foraging bees on the lookout for nectar, while birds like to nest in them too.
Keep reading for everything you need to know, then check out our guide to garden borders for more planting inspiration. Climbing honeysuckle will quickly scramble over trellis to soften the edges of hard landscaping with a riot of colour and fragrance.
Learning how to grow honeysuckle is easy. This unfussy shrub is a happy-go-lucky plant that will slot into your garden design with minimum effort and maximum impact.
Honeysuckle grows in any fertile, well-drained soil including chalk and clay. It thrives in sun or dappled shade or even full shade due to its woodland origins honeysuckle is a native wild plant but will only flower prolifically if it gets some regular sun. Lonicera japonica var repens also known as Creeping Japanese honeysuckle is a vigorous evergreen climber covered with clusters of fragrant white flowers tinged with purple.
Honeysuckle can be bought and planted all year round apart from if the ground is frozen or waterlogged. Add a good layer of mulch to help keep the soil moist and provide the growing conditions honeysuckle loves best.
Head over to our guide to mulching for more tips. Water regularly during the first spring and summer until the plant has become established, when you can ease off the regular checks.
As honeysuckle just gets on with it choosing the right location isn't difficult. If you decide to plant it in a spot that isn't sheltered it won't be bothered. A warm wall or fence is great for encouraging flowers. If you want honeysuckle to scramble through trees or other shrubs, you may need to provide netting for it to get a grip.
If you want to use honeysuckle as a way to add interest to your garden fence ideas or garden wall ideas , use trellis or wires arranged in horizontal layers about 45cm apart. Add vertical wires as well, spaced in the same way, if you really want to give your honeysuckle a head start. Make sure you leave a gap of at least 5cm between the wall and the support so the honeysuckle can wrap round it in a spiral. Remember honeysuckle needs space to grow and twine, and you may also need wiggle room to tie it up if it gets wayward.
Lonicera periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' is deliciously fragrant with large white, tubular flowers. It's ideal for training over walls, fences, pillars and pergolas.
These dependable plants are pretty trouble-free. If your soil lacks a protective mulch of well-rotted organic material this can aggravate the problem. Avoid this by mulching regularly to improve moisture retention.
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