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Honeysuckle shrub varieties


Growing Honeysuckle: Your Guide to Growing Honeysuckle Vines

Growing Honeysuckle: Your Guide to Growing Honeysuckle Vines | Gilmour

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Honeysuckle is known for its delicate tubular, nectar-filled, sweetly scented flowers. They are great for covering walls and the sides of building. While their roots should be shaded, they do best when their overflowing, flowering tops are mostly in sunlight or just slightly shaded. They are deer-resistant and hummingbirds and other wildlife love them.

Wondering how to grow honeysuckle? Read on for everything you need to know about this easy-to-grow plant, from popular varieties to how and when to plant honeysuckle. We’ll cover:

What is Honeysuckle?

Honeysuckle is a heat tolerant plant that can grow almost anywhere. With dark green to blue-green leaves and sweet-smelling flowers, they grow as either far-reaching vines or arching shrubs. The flowers can bloom in gorgeous bright pinks, oranges, yellows or whites, and some varieties have a unique two-colored flower. Sweet and nectar-filled, the flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees, and birds enjoy the small red berries that emerge after flowering. If care is taken to deadhead, these beauties can repeat-bloom often throughout the growing season.

Popular Types of Honeysuckle

There are close to 200 different varieties of honeysuckle. Native to the northern hemisphere, at least 20 of them are found in North America. There are three types of honeysuckle – vines, shrubs and a bush variety.

Honeysuckle Vines. The honeysuckle vine is a common, simple-to-grow climber that’s available in many varieties. Vines can also be planted as ground cover, but they’re most often trellis-trained to cover walls and structures.

Honeysuckle Shrubs. The honeysuckle shrub is a great choice to use as an informal hedge, and several shrub varieties will actually do surprisingly well in pots and containers.

Bush Honeysuckle. One of the more invasive types of honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle should not be planted in your garden or yard. Bush honeysuckle grows quickly, invading and shading out other areas of your garden.

Specific Types of Honeysuckle

Planting Climbing Honeysuckle Vines and Honeysuckle Shrubs

Training and Pruning Honeysuckle

Training – To train a honeysuckle vine to grow up a pergola, wall or trellis, gently tie the plant to the support with a plastic tie tape or another stretchy material that will allow for growth. You don’t want the material to cut into the plant as it grows. Also take care that the stems don’t rub on the supports – you can do this by looping your ties into a figure 8, making sure the crossed section goes between the stem and the support.

Pruning – You won’t need to spend too much time pruning your plant, other than to keep the shape tidy and contained.

How and when you prune depends on whether you have a vine or bush. Vines can be lightly pruned for shaping virtually any time of the year. If you’re doing a major pruning job on an older vine or one that’s unruly, wait until at least fall, or winter if you have a variety that goes dormant. Bushes can be pruned as soon as flowers drop in the spring.

Use bypass pruners to remove any dead, diseased or damaged stems. Cut stems to the point where they join another stem or just past a leaf node.

If you have planted an evergreen variety, note these will not go dormant. Prune them after the end of the flowering season so you don’t remove new buds.

Honeysuckle Care

Tip 1. Honeysuckle plants should be well (but not over) watered and mulched.

Tip 2. Take care not to let your soil get soggy – water only as needed to keep soil moist and damp.

Tip 3. Add layers of compost each spring.

Tip 4. Pruning depends on the type of honeysuckle you plant. Be sure you know which variety you have. – for example, common honeysuckle blooms on side shoots from the previous season, so if you prune it in the spring, you would eliminate your flowers.

Tip 5. Encourage and promote growth with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, a slow-release shrub and tree fertilizer or an organic plant food applied in the spring. You can also add a 2 – 3-inch layer of composted manure. However, if you plant honeysuckle in fertile soil, you may not need to fertilize.

Common Questions About Growing Honeysuckle

How do I keep honeysuckle blooming?

Keep your honeysuckle blooming by making sure the plant is in a spot that gets full sun. Honeysuckle will still grow, but will not bloom as much, in shady spots. Full sun means 6 or more hours of sunlight each day.

Why isn’t my honeysuckle blooming very much?

If your plant is young, it may just not have reached its full bloom potential yet – note that honeysuckle may take up to 3 years before it puts on a great show.

Does honeysuckle come back every year?

Honeysuckle is a perennial plant, meaning it will come back each year. With proper care, you should be able to enjoy your honeysuckle for many years. Some varieties can live an average of 20 years.

How long does it take to grow honeysuckle?

Honeysuckle is a fast-growing plant that will likely bloom during its first growing season. However, it could take up to 3 years for optimal blooming.

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13 of the Best Species for Your Garden

Honeysuckle plants have much to offer.

With ease of care, fragrant blooms that attract pollinators, and striking fruits, these plants are hardy, attractive specimens that are worthwhile additions to the landscape.

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These plants come in both vine and bush form, and can be either deciduous or evergreen. The genus Lonicera has around 180 species, all contained within the Caprifoliaceae family. That’s a lot of different honeysuckles!

But fear not. Now that you’re here, reading this guide, you don’t have to put in hours of honeysuckle research anymore! This guide will break down the best choices, in depth.

Behold what awaits:

13 of the Best Types of Honeysuckle for the Garden

  1. Alpine
  2. Box
  3. Brown’s
  4. Burmese
  5. Goldflame
  6. Honeyberry
  7. Japanese
  1. Morrow
  2. Perfoliate
  3. Privet
  4. Trumpet
  5. Winter
  6. Woodbine

Here’s a lil’ disclosure before we continue, real quick:

Honeysuckle grows vigorously, which can sometimes result in aggressive and/or invasive growing tendencies.

However, with proper species selection and a healthy dose of attentive gardening, it’s possible to use this powerful growth habit in your favor and cultivate vibrant, lush specimens that don’t take over your other plantings.

But it goes without saying that you should definitely follow local laws. If you can’t legally plant honeysuckle in your area, then don’t. But if you can, then here are some excellent options:

1. Alpine

Hailing from the mountainous forests of central and southern Europe, L. alpigena has a maximum height of eight feet and can be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 7.

It bears cherry-looking fruits of a brilliant red shade, lustrous dark green leaves, and yellowish flowers tinged with shades of dark red. A semi-evergreen shrub, it has a branched and erect growing habit.

What makes this species particularly striking is the large size of its fruits and leaves, along with its lengthy flower stems. A notable cultivar is ‘Nana,’ a variety that grows slow and low, with a maximum height of three feet.

2. Box

A Chinese-native, L. nitida is primarily valued for its evergreen foliage in the landscape. Said leaves are about half an inch long, rounded, and arranged opposite each other along the stem.

The branches arch gracefully, which gives this five- to eight-foot-tall shrub an air of elegance.

Thankfully, this species doesn’t aggressively spread like some others do. Utilized primarily for hedging and massing, L. nitida grows best in Zones 7 to 9.

If you ever wanted a honeysuckle that looks like the love-child of a Boston fern and a boxwood hedge, then this is the Lonicera for you.

Thunderbolt Box

The Thunderbolt™ box honeysuckle is a variety that’s more fragrant and cold-hardy than the standard species plant. Pick one up now from Nature Hills Nursery.

3. Brown’s

Brown’s honeysuckle is a catch-all term for a group of hybrids, the parents being L. sempervirens and L hirsuta.

When compared to L. sempervirens, L. x brownii has smaller flowers that are more orange than red. Reaching a maximum length of eight to 12 feet, these deciduous plants are hardier and less vigorous, growing in Zones 4 to 7.

So if the idea of a tougher, slower-growing, and orange-flowering trumpet honeysuckle is appealing, then this is the Lonicera for you.

Some cool varieties of this hybrid are available. ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ blooms heavily and is even more cold-hardy than the standard. ‘Mandarin’s Brown’ is a berryless version, with flowers that are orange-red on the outside, and orange-yellow on the inside.

‘Dropmore Scarlet’

‘Dropmore Scarlet’ can be purchased from Nature Hills Nursery.

4. Burmese

With a name like giant Burmese honeysuckle, L. hildebrandiana is proof that bigger is sometimes better.

Native to China, this evergreen vine grows to a maximum supported height of 50 to 60 feet, and has glossy, dark green leaves that reach a mature length of six inches.

All that combined with massive green berries, plus six-inch-long yellow flowers, and this specimen earns the title of world’s largest Lonicera in every category.

The coldest temperature that L. hildebrandiana can tolerate is about 20°F, so Zone 9 is the furthest north you’d want to go with this thing.

Giant Burmese

California residents can purchase giant Burmese honeysuckle from Plants Express.

5. Goldflame

Another hybrid species, it’s not certain who the parents of L. x heckrottii are, although they’re purported to be L. sempervirens and L. americana.

This semi-evergreen vining beauty is straight-up gorgeous, with deep carmine-pink on the outside of the flower petals that transitions into creamy orange-yellow throats on the inside.

Its leaves are also stunning: blue-green ovals joined at the petiole under the flowers, creating a foliar disk in the background. It reaches a maximum height of 20 feet and grows best in Zones 4 to 9.

L. x heckrottii is also highly disease-resistant. That, in combo with its looks, earned this plant the prestigious Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Well-deserved, I say.

Goldflame

Goldflame honeysuckle plants are available from Nature Hills Nursery.

6. Honeyberry

Also known as the honeyberry or haskap, L. caerulea is native to North America, Europe, and Asia, growing in Zones 2 to 5.

This dense, deciduous shrub can reach a height of six feet and has ovate, bright green leaves. Its small flowers are funnel-shaped and pale yellow in color.

However, the fruits of the honeyberry honeysuckle are what make this a great specimen.

It bears dark blue, antioxidant-rich fruits that ripen in late spring, which taste of blueberries with a hint of raspberry and/or black currant.

Honeyberry fruits can be eaten fresh, but are also delicious in jams, jellies, preserves, syrup, smoothies, ice cream, and even wine.

In order to produce fruits, you’ll need to have at least two different cultivars planted close together for cross-pollination.

‘Tundra’ produces large, firm fruits and has powdery mildew resistance. ‘Borealis’ also has large fruits, and is reputed to be one of the best-tasting cultivars. ‘Blue Lightning,’ a popular Russian cultivar, produces high yields of sweet-tart fruits.

Honeyberry

Burpee has bare root honeyberry transplants available.

7. Japanese

Honeysuckles are notoriously capable of choking out other plants with their invasively vigorous growth rates, if you’re not careful – and L. japonica is one that requires extra caution.

Capable of growing in Zones 4 to 9, this semi-evergreen vine is capable of growing up to 30 feet in length, and will often twine around nearby structures or upright plants.

This Japanese native has fragrant, white flowers that yellow with age, and it bears small black fruits.

Along with being a fragrant ornamental specimen that provides winter forage for deer, L. japonica is a fine choice for securing unstable or eroded banks.

It’s more likely than not that you’ll be banned from planting it… but if it’s legal where you are, then have at it!

If yellow flowers appeal to you more than white ones, ‘Hall’s Prolific’ cuts to the chase right away, with flowers that quickly yellow after opening.

‘Purpurea’ is a cultivar with purple-tinged foliage, which looks pretty neat, in a chameleon plant sort of way.

‘Halliana’ is an especially vigorous specimen with fork-tipped flower petals that turn light orange with age.

‘Haliana’

‘Haliana’ can be purchased from Plants Express for shipping in California.

Read up on how to care for this species here.

8. Morrow

Originally from Japan, L. morrowii is a deciduous and bushy specimen. It’s also invasive in many areas, so proceed with caution.

Its vegetative parts look pretty similar to the Japanese honeysuckle, except for having blood-red berries instead of black ones. It also grows a bit smaller, reaching a maximum height and width of 10 feet in Zones 3 to 6.

A cultivar worth noting is ‘Xanthocarpa,’ which has flowers that stay white, and yellow fruits instead of the standard blood-red hue.

9. Perfoliate

A twining deciduous vine native to Eurasia, this species can be grown in Zones 5 to 8.

Growing up to 20 feet in height, L. caprifolium has orange-red fruits as well as pink-tinged white flowers that open in summer.

This sets it apart from most other honeysuckles, which bloom in the springtime. These flowers are so long that they’re primarily pollinated by nocturnal hawk moths, one of the only insect species with mouthparts lengthy enough to actually reach the nectar.

The upper leaves of this plant are perfoliate, meaning the stem sticks into and continues through the center of the leaves, similar to a straw going through a plastic drink lid.

It’s a very unique look for foliage that draws the eye way up the stem towards the beautiful blooms.

10. Privet

L. pileata is pretty similar to L. nitida, save for having more elongated leaves that are half an inch to an inch in length.

The evergreen foliage is what this plant is cultivated for, primarily.

The branches don’t arch as much as they stick straight out, though… kinda like a box honeysuckle stuck its finger in an electrical socket, which I’ll admit is a weird and unnecessary visual!

Privet Honeysuckle

This specimen can be purchased from Nature Hills Nursery.

11. Trumpet

A North American native, L. sempervirens grows best in Zones 4 to 9.

This vining, semi-evergreen species has bright red flowers and berries, plus leaves similar to those of the perfoliate honeysuckle. It can grow up to 20 feet in height, and can potentially go higher on a suitable support structure.

While most honeysuckles are aggressive growers to an invasive degree, this one is vigorous without encroaching on your other plantings.

It’s a welcome break from the standard routine of constant pruning to ensure that your Lonicera plantings don’t cause an ecological crisis. You can expect to attract quite a few hummingbirds and songbirds with this plant, too!

‘Major Wheeler’

The ‘Sulphurea’ variety has yellow flowers with bright green foliage, and ‘Major Wheeler’ has crimson flowers that bloom all season long.

Nature Hills Nursery offers the ‘Major Wheeler’ cultivar.

12. Winter

As a general rule, most plants don’t flower in wintertime… but I guess nobody told the winter honeysuckle that.

Growing in Zones 4 to 8 to a maximum height of 15 feet, the small, white flowers of L. fragrantissima bloom as early as January. These are followed by bright red berries.

Possessing wider-than-normal leaves for a Lonicera, this deciduous shrub looks good in a season when most other plants are barren and dormant. It also rocks the standard honeysuckle fragrance with a hint of lemon – an unexpected, yet appreciated scent in a winter garden.

The early-to-leaf foliage also makes for a good screen, if privacy is what you want.

It’ll even attract animals to its berries and blooms, which’ll keep critters visiting your yard year-round. Overall, this Chinese-native Lonicera is a worthy plant for picking up the visual slack during the cold, dreary months.

13. Woodbine

Native to Europe and northern Africa, L. periclymenum is one versatile honeysuckle.

Best cultivated in Zones 4 to 8, this deciduous plant can serve as a 20-foot twining vine that doubles as a screen when grown against and/or through fencing. It can even be trained as a ground cover!

This species has ivory-shaded blooms that are tinged with purple. Combine that with red berries and glossy green leaves, and you’ve got a plant that packs both flexibility and fashionability!

Cultivars worth mentioning: ‘Serotina,’ which has bright pink petals and whitish-yellow floral stems.

‘Peaches and Cream’ has magenta flower buds which mature into peachy-cream flowers. And thanks to its renowned fragrance, ‘Scentsation’ is another top-tier choice.

‘Peaches and Cream’

‘Peaches and Cream plants are available from Nature Hills Nursery.

‘Scentsation’

Pick up potted ‘Scentsation’ at Nature Hills Nursery too.

A Rhyme for Honeysuckle? Worth a Chuckle

There you have it, folks! A low-down on the best honeysuckles. Best is subjective, of course… but these are my personal favorites.

Now that you’ve got some Lonicera ideas for the garden, you’ll have a blast growing them for yourself! Not quite sure how? We’ve got a general guide to growing honeysuckles for you right here.

Do you have a different variety so share that wasn’t mentioned here? Questions? Comments? Want to check if your keyboard’s working? All that and more can be directed to the comments section below! I’d love to read, respond, and/or confirm that your keystrokes registered.

If these (mostly) vining plants struck you as interesting, you’ll enjoy these vine-growing guides next:

The best varieties of honeysuckle for the Moscow region

Honeysuckle is an early berry with blue-violet fruits and an unobtrusive taste. According to the content of vitamins, biologically active compounds and trace elements, it competes with many berry crops.

Contents

TOP of Honeysuckle varieties, which can be grown in the Moscow Region

Robility includes more than a hundred types, among which there are bushes, pre -shaped pre -alerts and climbing plants. At the beginning of summer, the berry-vitamin season is opened by tender, sour-fresh fruits of edible honeysuckle.

Leonid Petrovich Kuminov, a breeder from the Moscow region, has been working on obtaining honeysuckle cultivars for many years. Its varieties are characterized by high frost resistance, tolerate heat well, show an average drought resistance . The taste of these berries is estimated at 4. 8 points out of 5. The fruits are dark blue with a bluish tint, sweet, not bitter. They can be teardrop-shaped, spindle-shaped, round or oblong in shape, weighing an average of 1.1 g. After ripening, the berries almost do not crumble.

Early and mid-early from the varieties of L.P. Kuminov included in the State Register:

  • Early Gzhel,
  • Viliga,
  • Gzhelka.

Mid-ripening Kuminovsky varieties of honeysuckle:

  • Kuminovka,
  • Pile is small,
  • Lyuliya,
  • Shahinya.

Late varieties of L.P. Kuminov included in the State Register:

  • Kingfisher,
  • Ramenskaya,
  • Late Gzhel.

The best and most prolific of the varieties obtained by L.P. Kuminov, Viliga, produces up to 2.4 kg of large, sweet, tender berries from one bush.

Viliga — high-yielding variety with vigorous bushes

In addition to the Kuminovsky varieties, which are even in terms of characteristics, the State Register has new improved honeysuckle varieties with improved yield, endurance and fruit size.

Usually early berries do not have a strong taste, but this is not the case with honeysuckle. Among the early maturing varieties there are several very successful ones in terms of quality and yield.

Table: 5 early honeysuckle varieties with improved properties

Three tasters give only 4.6 points to fragrant berries of the variety

Mid-ripening honeysuckle comes with miniature neat droplets-berries or more weighty, with the appropriate name. Some show high resistance to pathogens: pathogens and pests, others to extreme temperatures. They can endure frost and heat without damage. All varieties are characterized by a pleasant refreshing taste.

Read also about what can be planted in the summer in our article - July plantings in the country 0.8 5 47 Exceptional resistance to pests and diseases Daughter of the giant Sweet, with sourness, refreshing 1. 8–2.5 90AM 4 The average heat resistance Elizabeth Sweet 1.2–1.8 5 41 20133

Photo gallery: late successful varieties of honeysuckle
The variety of honeysuckle Bakcharskaya jubilee is a summer resident's dream: the fruits are tasty, large, the bush is resistant to bad weather, usefulness and pests, while the yield is simply fabulous!
Honeysuckle variety Chosen boldly competes with the best representatives of the species in terms of taste and yield
Honeysuckle variety Fianit has been sparkling in garden plots for a quarter of a century

The maximum evaluation of the tasters was received by honeysuckle berries of varieties:

  • Assol,
  • Blue dessert,
  • Gorlinka,
  • Elizaveta,
    • 900 Fian, Slastena,
Photo gallery: honeysuckle varieties with the most delicious berries
Variety Assol opens the berry season with delicious berries
0212
The fruits of the variety Elizaveta are a real treasure: there are few of them, but they are great in taste I chose the varieties Leningradsky Velikan and Viliga, and two more nameless seedlings were presented by a neighbor of her own, warning that for a stable harvest several varieties are required, located no further than one and a half to two meters from each other. But no one warned that the bushes do not like transplants, but it didn’t occur to me to read it myself. As a result, trying to find the best location, I changed the place of planting bushes several times ...
So I'm content with delicate flowers for the time being in anticipation of future rich harvests.

Ornamental honeysuckle

In addition to the blue-violet berry with an unobtrusive taste, there are other plants with the same name: bushy, like Tatar honeysuckle, or liana-like - honeysuckle, or fragrant honeysuckle. Most often, Tatarian honeysuckle bushes are used in the design of the site: Rosea, Hack's Red, Zabelii. Their expressive flowers, covering the bushes from spring to early summer, are replaced later by catchy berries. And the arbors and walls of buildings are decorated with curly honeysuckle shoots, which have decorative and delicate fragrant flowers, and the shoots themselves, and berries, tightly sitting on a saucer of fused leaves. The fruits of all types of ornamental honeysuckle are inedible.

So it turns out that when talking about honeysuckle, some mean an early-ripening tender berry, while others mean thick bushes or an original graceful liana that decorates a site or a wall of a building.

See also - Caring for honeysuckle in autumn, preparing bushes for winter

Photo gallery: decorative forms of honeysuckle

Variety Zabelii has delicate milky pink flowers. Did you forget to plant on the Zabelii site?

Reviews

These unsophisticated berries are capable of producing delicious processed products: jam, confiture, puree, which are rated higher by tasters than fruits. As for decorative honeysuckle, it changes the world around itself.

  • Author: Armenui Poghosyan