Honeysuckle vine

The Honeysuckle vine is one of the popular fragrant and ornamental plants, also useful for screening or shade because of its dense foliage, but it’s definitely one of the children’s favorite due to its sweet edible nectar. Careful of the fruit though; while the nectar is edible and very good, the fruit might be slightly poisonous with some species.

Its pretty trumpet-shaped flowers come in white, yellow, pink, red and purple with oval leaves, the most common being the white-and-pink flowered variety, followed by the trumpet honeysuckle with striking scarlet and yellow flowers which unfortunately are not fragrant as well, but are a sight to be seen nonetheless.

The Honeysuckle vine is easy to grow and not demanding at all, so if you want one for yourself don’t hesitate, choose a fence or wall you want to make pretty, set in a sunny place (at least 4 hours of sunlight daily) and go ahead. Plant it in early spring, the young plants set at 3 feet from each other so they have enough space to spread.

The soil should be slightly acidic, pH 5.5 – 7, so you should use manure or fertilizer every now and then. The soil should be kept moist, especially during the settling period so mulching is needed – mulching helps protect the roots from freezing during winter as well.

One aspect which should not be ignored is pruning – it should be done lightly for the first two years, done preferably when the plant is dormant.

Because of its sweet nectar, the honeysuckle attracts pests as well, so check it every not and then for diseases or infections and act accordingly if any is found.

dense foliage, Honeysuckle vine, sunny place, sweet edible nectar, sweet nectar, yellow flowers

Gardening