Long-lived and somewhat invasive Japanese honeysuckle is a summertime favorite flowering vine.
This vigorous climbing vine is easy to grow in sun or part shade
and is not fussy about the soil. Grow
next to a fence, a rock wall, or a trellis.
The fragrant tubular-shaped yellow or white flowers will bloom in late
spring and will continue to bloom throughout the summer months then in fall, the fruit will appear. This fruit is eaten by birds.
The honeysuckle will become invasive if you do
not prune it when needed. In the full sun, this
vine will grow very fast and put out many runners that will smother and kill
any flowers or shrubs that are growing in the path of the vine. So it's best to control the honeysuckle by
pruning by hand to keep it from taking over.
Know that my neighbor grows honeysuckle on the
backside of her fence. The vines are very thick and in the winter this semi-evergreen vine does provide shelter for warblers, finches, and other birds. So
if you enjoy watching birds and butterflies you should grow a Japanese
Honeysuckle vine on a trellis or fence.
Here are my photographs of the Japanese
Honeysuckle
