Shrub · Caprifoliaceae
Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Give it full sun and something to climb, and trumpet honeysuckle hands you coral flowers and hummingbirds all season.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 4–9
8–20 ft · 2.4–6.1 m
Overview
Trumpet honeysuckle is a native flowering vine, and no, it isn't the badly behaved cousin everyone worries about. It puts out whorls of slim, coral-red to orange tubular flowers from late spring into summer, and it'll often go for a second round in fall. Hummingbirds work those blooms, and once they're done, red berries show up for the birds.
Best part? It's an easy, adaptable plant. It's happy in most soils, it laughs off cold down to a brutal low, and it barely asks for anything once its roots take hold. Give it a trellis, an arbor, or a fence and it climbs fast, clearing your head in a season or two.
The one thing to nail down is which honeysuckle you're planting. You want the native trumpet type, Lonicera sempervirens. Steer clear of Japanese honeysuckle, the runaway white-flowered vine that smothers wild ground across a lot of the country.
Care
The short version: give it full sun and something to climb, average well-drained soil, and steady moisture while it settles in, and after that it pretty much takes care of itself.
Light
Honeysuckle flowers hardest in full sun, though it'll take partial shade and still bloom for you. Sun keeps the leaves dry too, which is handy for keeping powdery mildew away.
Water
Keep the soil evenly moist while the vine's rooting in, watering every 5 to 10 days. Once it's established it shrugs off dry spells, but steady moisture is what brings the most flowers.
Soil
It's not picky, and it grows in average to rich, well-drained loam or clay loam. It's happy across a wide pH window of 5.5 to 8.0, so most garden dirt works fine as long as it drains.
Temperature
This vine is seriously tough, hardy from a bitter -29°F (-34°C) up to around 100°F (38°C). That range carries it through cold winters and hot summers in most temperate gardens without a hitch.
Humidity
Regular outdoor humidity is fine, and there's no number to chase here. Airflow is what matters, since still, damp air around crowded leaves is what invites mildew in.
Feeding
Feed it lightly in spring with a balanced fertilizer and leave it at that. Go heavy on nitrogen and you'll trade flowers for leaves, so keep it modest.
Pruning
Prune right after the main flush to shape it and hold its size down. It blooms on new growth, so a light trim spurs reblooming. Save the hard cutback for late winter, and only when the plant actually needs a reset.
Repotting
In the ground it never needs repotting, and even in a pot it's moved up only rarely. Roots circling the pot or poking out the drainage holes, plus weaker flowering, are the tip-off that it's outgrown its home.
Size & spacing
Give it something to climb and the vine hits 8 to 20 feet (2.4 to 6 m) tall and spreads 3 to 6 feet (91 to 183 cm) wide. Set it up with a sturdy trellis or arbor and leave room for all that reach.
When to plant
Since honeysuckle is a hardy perennial vine, the calendar's really about getting it settled, not beating a frost. Pop new plants in the ground in spring or fall, then keep an eye out for that first flush of coral flowers from late spring into summer, with more coming if you keep it lightly pruned.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring or fall
- Harvest: late spring into summer, often reblooming into fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Good news: trumpet honeysuckle stays out of trouble most years, and whatever does turn up is usually just cosmetic. There are really only two things to watch, and both like warm, muggy weather. Spot the sign below and you can jump in before it messes with the look of the vine.
White dusty stuff on the leaves when it's muggy out
See that chalky white coating? That's powdery mildew, a fungus that loves warm, still, humid air. Here's an easy tell: it rubs right off, while leaf blight leaves dark marks that stay put. Open the vine up so air can move through, water down at the base instead of over the top, and let full sun dry the leaves, and you've pretty much got it handled.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation by thinning and providing support such as a trellis or arbor
- Remove and discard severely affected foliage
- Avoid overhead watering and water at the base of the plant
- Site the vine in full sun where foliage dries quickly
New shoots crowded with tiny bugs and a sticky coating
Those little soft bugs bunched up on the fresh growth are aphids, and that sticky stuff they leave behind is what brings the ants around. No big deal, though. A firm blast of water knocks most of them off, and insecticidal soap takes care of any that hang on. A healthy vine barely notices them, so go easy on the nitrogen that pushes out the soft growth they can't resist.
Fix:
- Dislodge aphids with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil to affected growth if needed
- Encourage natural predators such as lady beetles and lacewings
- Reduce plant stress through adequate watering and avoiding excess nitrogen
Toxicity
Honeysuckle lands at the low end of the risk scale. The leaves, flowers, and sweet nectar are barely worth a second thought, and a kid sipping a drop from a bloom is totally fine. The catch? The red berries, which carry saponins that can upset a stomach if you eat a bunch, so keep pets and kids from grazing on the fruit.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · People
Safe for
Birds
Cats Mild
If a cat nibbles a leaf or flower, it's usually no problem at all. The berries are another story, though, since a mouthful of them can bring on vomiting or loose stools thanks to the saponins in the fruit.
Dogs Mild
A dog can eat the leaves and nectar without any fuss. What you don't want is a dog loading up on the red berries, because that can mean drooling, an upset stomach, and some diarrhea.
Horses Caution
Honeysuckle isn't on the list of serious horse poisons, so no need to panic. That said, the berries carry the same saponins that bother other grazers, so it's smart to keep a nosy horse from stripping the fruit.
Rabbits Mild
A rabbit that tries a leaf will probably be just fine. The berries, though? Those can leave it with a sour gut, so don't hand them over as a treat.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, goats, and sheep usually walk right past the vine. But if one really goes to town on the berries, the saponins can bring mild digestive upset, so fence off your good stock when there's a big fruit set.
People Caution
Sipping a drop of nectar from a bloom does nothing at all. The berries are a different thing entirely, since they aren't food and can upset a stomach if you eat any real amount, so teach kids to leave the fruit alone.
Birds Safe
Birds eat the bright red berries without a hitch, and they scatter the seed as they go, which is exactly how the plant gets around. For them the fruit's just food, not a danger.
The sweet flower nectar that children sometimes sip is harmless in tiny amounts, but discourage anyone from eating the berries. Keep pets from grazing on the fruit.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most garden honeysuckle really boils down to a handful of dependable picks, and nearly all of them are native trumpet types or well-mannered hybrids. Here are the ones worth hunting down, plus one to skip.
Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler'
If you want a crowd-pleaser, this native trumpet honeysuckle piles on reddish-orange flowers that rebloom strongly and keep hummingbirds visiting all season.
Lonicera sempervirens 'John Clayton'
This is a compact native pick with clear yellow flowers that bloom again and again and set a nice crop of red berries.
Lonicera × heckrottii (Gold Flame honeysuckle)
Here's a fragrant, easygoing hybrid whose showy two-toned blooms are rose-pink on the outside and yellow inside.
Lonicera × brownii 'Dropmore Scarlet'
Gardening somewhere really cold? This extra hardy Brown's honeysuckle flowers bright red for a long stretch and stays vigorous without getting pushy.
Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' (Hall's honeysuckle)
This aggressive Japanese honeysuckle has fragrant white flowers that turn yellow, but it's discouraged or banned in lots of places, so you're better off with the natives above.
Companions
Keep apart
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle): Invasive non-native that smothers desirable plants and the native honeysuckle alike; should not be planted near or in place of native species.
How to propagate
Honeysuckle is a breeze to multiply, and the rooting routes get you a flowering vine way sooner than seed does. Just pick whichever suits your patience and the time of year.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Late spring to summer (softwood/semi-hardwood) · Several weeks to a few months
Want the easy route? Snip softwood or semi-hardwood cuttings from late spring into summer, keep them nice and humid, and they'll root on their own over the next several weeks to a few months. It's the quickest, most reliable way to copy a vine you already love.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · One growing season
Layering couldn't be simpler. Sometime from spring through summer, pin a low, bendy stem down against the soil and it'll root right at the buried node. Give it a full growing season, then snip the new plant free once it's grown its own roots.
SeedModerate
Fall sowing or after cold stratification · A season or more
Feeling patient? Clean the seed out of ripe red berries and sow it in fall, or give it a spell of cold stratification, since that chill is what wakes it up. You're looking at a season or more before it's a usable plant, which is why the rooting methods are the faster picks.
Myths
Every honeysuckle vine is an invasive weed that should never be planted.
Not so fast, because the troublemaker here is Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, a non-native with fragrant white-to-yellow flowers that smothers native plants across much of the eastern, central, and southern US and is regulated or banned in some states. The native trumpet or coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, the one with whorls of coral-red to orange tubular blooms, plays nice in the garden. It is non-invasive and the recommended alternative.
Sources
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- Missouri Botanical Garden
- USDA National Invasive Species Information Center
- USDA Forest Service Fire Effects Information System
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- Penn State Extension
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox