One of best memories is to sit
with your beloved ones under a huge honeysuckle vine in Pennsylvania, sucking
the nectar out of the ends of the gold and white blossom. Honeysuckles are
arching shrubs or twining bines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the
Northern Hemisphere. More than 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified
so far. Therefore 100 species can be found in China, 20 native species identified
in Europe, 20 in India, and 20 in North America. It wasn’t till long afterwards
that realized that not all honeysuckles were vines, that just as many of them
were shrubs and that among the vining ones not all of them grew as lushly as
that childhood twinning ones; they bloom attractively and is quite varied in
both their flowers and their berries. 
Hall’s honeysuckle or “Lonicera”
japonica “Halliana” is the one of familiar to most people. It has white flowers
that turn to gold in late spring and thereafter, followed by black berries. The
foliage turns a nice bronze color in fall. A Japanese plant now naturalized in
this country and hardy as well. It requires a strong support unless grown as a
ground cover and can be very rampant if not controlled by pruning. If you want
a more manageable vine, choose Henry honeysuckle “L.Henryi”, which is hardy and
has red flowers a bit later than those of Hall’s or try gold flame honeysuckle “L.
x heckrottii”, hardy to and long blooming red flowers. Even try trumpet
honeysuckle because of it restrained growth and late bloom it helps to keep the
hummingbirds around in July and August. Numerous species of honeysuckle have
become invasive when introduced outside their native range, particularly in New
Zealand and the United State.
Honeysuckle gets its name because
edible sweet nectar can be sucked from the flowers. If you want to grow
Honeysuckle vines will grow in most soils, and in sun or shade, but they bloom
best in full sun and in soil that is fairly moist. Don’t feed the vigorous
ones, and restrain them by pruning unless you are using them to control erosion
and want rampant growth. Banish aphids as needed with a soap spray and
propagate by seed, softwood cutting or by layering. Moreover honeysuckles are
valued as garden plants, for their ability to cover unsightly walls and
outbuildings, their profuse tubular flowers in summer, and the penetrating
fragrance of several varieties.
