Lonicera

Honeysuckle
Caprifoliaceae
Deciduous, Shrubs, Vines, Decorative fruit or berries

Most honeysuckles are valued for their clustered or paired, often fragrant flowers. Blossoms are tubular in form. Some have two flaring, unequal lips; others are trumpets or straight tubes, sometimes flaring at the mouth into five equal lobes. Flowers attract hummingbirds, and the red or purple berries that follow provide food for many other kinds of birds. Blossoms typically deepen in color after opening, so clusters contain both pale and darker blooms.

Lonicera fragrantissima

From China. Arching, rather stiff growth to about 8 ft. high and wide. Oval, 1 to 3-in.-long leaves are dull dark green above, blue green beneath. Creamy white, half-inch-long, two-lipped flowers from late winter to early spring; blossoms are richly fragrant (like Daphne odora) but not showy. Red berries. Can be used as a clipped hedge or background plant. Bring budded branches indoors for bloom.

Lonicera hildebrandiana

From China. Fast-growing vine to 30 ft., with 4 to 6 in., oval, glossy dark green leaves on ropelike stems. Bears fragrant, 6 to 7-in., two-lipped, summer flowers that open white, then turn yellow to dull orange; blossoms slow to drop. May bear dark green berries. Thin out older stems occasionally and remove some of the growth that has bloomed. Striking along eaves, on arbor or wall. Needs sturdy support.

Lonicera japonica

From Japan. Rampant growth can reach 30 ft., making this a weed, since birds spread the seeds; consider planting the similar but less aggressive Lonicera periclymenum. Basic species has oval deep green leaves to 3 in. long and sweet-scented, two-lipped, purple-tinged white flowers from spring to fall. Several varieties are grown, all better known than the species.

Lonicera periclymenum

Native to Europe and the Mediterranean region. Grows 10 to 20 ft. tall. Resembles L. japonica but is less rampant. Whorls of 2-in.-long, fragrant, two-lipped flowers in summer and fall. Most varieties have flowers in the purple-yellow-white range.

Lonicera sempervirens

Native to the Eastern and Southern United States. Can climb 10–20 ft. tall but shrubby if not given support. Showy, unscented, trumpet-shaped flowers are 1 1/2 to 2 in. long, orange-yellow to scarlet, carried in whorls at branch ends from late spring into summer. Scarlet fruit. Oval, 1/2 to 3-in.-long leaves are medium green above, bluish green beneath.

Lonicera x brownii

Represented in nurseries by its superior selection ‘Dropmore Scarlet’, which climbs to 9–10 ft. Unscented, bright red flowers that look like trumpets bloom from late spring or early summer until frost. Pairs of triangular blue-green leaves to about 3 in. long appear to be joined at the bases.

Lonicera x heckrottii

This vining shrub grows 12 to 15 ft. tall, with 2 1/2-in., oval, blue-green leaves. Free blooming spring to frost. Clusters of coral pink buds open to 1 1/2-in., slightly fragrant, two-lipped flowers that are bright coral pink outside and rich yellow within. Train as espalier or on wire along eaves.