Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)




This is a native, not the invasive Japanese honeysuckle. It is not fragrant but is supposed to be a magnet for hummingbirds. I've not seen any hummers near it but I only saw them for about a week this spring even around their nectar feeder.

Coral honeysuckle comes in shades from deep red to clear yellow and I have three different cultivars at the back of my lot, behind the asparagus bed and scrambling up over the winterberry bushes.

4 comments:

  1. last year my mature coral honeysuckle 5-6 years old withered on the vine. This year though it came back I've noticed a dark brown sticky dirt like substance that is coating the leaves. The flowers are starting to drop and I fear that the plant is falling victim to last years fate. We live in the Big Bend area of Texas..far west texas ..very arid/desert ...any thoughts or solutions? thanks

    david from Marfa

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  2. will the coral honeysuckle hedge work in northern minnesota with very cold weather?

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  3. I searched and found a couple of sites that said coral honeysuckle is hardy to Zone 4. This USDA map puts northern MI in Zone 3 so it's probably going to be difficult.
    http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hzm-ne1.html

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  4. David,
    This site says that aphids are a common problem. That might account for the stickiness. Can you see small sucking insects? You can usually wash aphids off with a blast of the water hose or use some insecticidal soap.

    http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=518&PlantTypeID=5

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