Trumpet honeysuckle

Sun

Full sun to partial shade; flowering is strongest with at least six hours of direct sun.

Water

Moderate; water regularly while establishing, then during prolonged dry spells. Established plants tolerate some drought.

Soil

Moist but well-drained soil, preferably with organic matter; tolerates clay, loam and sandy soil if drainage is adequate.

Height

10-20 ft (3-6 m)

Spread

3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m)

Flowers

Mainly late spring to early summer, with intermittent flowers into autumn; usually coral-red or scarlet outside and yellow inside.

Foliage

Opposite, oval, blue-green leaves with pale undersides. The uppermost leaf pair beneath a flower cluster joins around the stem. Deciduous in cold climates, but often semi-evergreen or evergreen in mild winters.

Growth

Moderate to fast once established.

Care needed

Low

• Provide a trellis, wires or another slender support; the stems twine but do not cling to flat walls.
• Tie young shoots loosely to the support until they begin winding around it.
• Water deeply during the first growing season whenever the root zone starts to dry.
• Apply a 2-3 in (5-8 cm) organic mulch, keeping it clear of the main stems.
• Top-dress with compost in spring; avoid heavy nitrogen feeding, which encourages leaves at the expense of flowers.

Pruning. After the main flowering flush, shorten wayward shoots and remove tangled or overcrowded stems. Remove dead or damaged wood in late winter; hard renovation pruning then is possible but reduces the early flower display.

Late winter

Remove dead or damaged stems and check that the support and ties are secure.

Spring

Plant when the soil is workable, water thoroughly and renew the mulch.

Late spring

Guide new shoots onto the support and inspect tender growth for aphids.

Early summer

After the main flowers fade, shorten shoots that have outgrown their allotted space.

Summer

Water during extended dry weather; take softwood cuttings from healthy, nonflowering shoots.

Autumn

Leave berries for birds and remove fallen diseased leaves.

• Train over a sunny fence with coneflowers and black-eyed Susans below for a long-season wildlife border.
• Grow on a narrow trellis beside a patio to bring flowers close without relying on fragrance.
• Clothe a small arbor or garden gateway, keeping the main stems tied neatly to the framework.
• Use on an open wire screen behind ornamental grasses for light screening rather than a dense evergreen barrier.

Garden styles it suits: Cottage garden, Wildlife garden, Pollinator garden, Woodland, Traditional and Southern.

Plant it with: Purple coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Garden phlox, Wild bergamot, Little bluestem and Switchgrass.

Wildlife: In its native range, the tubular flowers feed hummingbirds and attract butterflies and some bees. Birds eat the red berries, and the vine can provide nesting cover. Hummingbirds do not occur naturally in the United Kingdom or Australia.

• Aphids can cluster on young shoots: wash them off with water and preserve ladybirds and other predators; use insecticidal soap if damage persists.
• Powdery mildew can coat leaves in crowded or stressed growth: improve airflow, water the root zone during drought and remove badly affected foliage.
• Sparse flowering often follows excessive shade, nitrogen feeding or hard spring pruning: provide more sun, reduce feeding and prune after the main bloom.
• Root rot can develop in persistently wet soil: improve drainage or move the plant to a better-drained position.

Do not eat the berries; they are reported to cause nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea in people, usually with low poisoning severity. Species-specific information for cats, dogs and horses is limited and inconsistent, so do not assume that berries or foliage are safe for them to eat.

• Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

  Has strongly fragrant white flowers that age to yellow, usually in pairs along the stems, rather than terminal clusters of red trumpets. Its berries are black, and it lacks the joined upper leaf pair.

• Brown's honeysuckle (Lonicera × brownii)

  This hybrid has similar orange-red tubular flowers and can be difficult to distinguish reliably. It often sets little fruit; a nursery label or known parentage is more dependable than flower colour alone.

• Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans)

  Has much larger orange trumpets, compound leaves with toothed leaflets and clinging aerial roots. Trumpet honeysuckle has simple leaves and climbs by twining.

Lonicera honours the German botanist Adam Lonitzer, sempervirens means 'evergreen', and trumpet honeysuckle describes the shape of its flowers.

Propagation. Take softwood cuttings in late spring or early summer, or layer a low shoot into the soil. Seed-grown plants vary and may take longer to flower; use cuttings or layering to preserve a named cultivar.

Accepted botanical name

Lonicera sempervirens

In the US and Canada

Native in the lower 48 states. Introduced in Canada.

Native range

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Measured

Soil pH 6 to 8.5. Average height 494 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.