What Time of the Year Does Honeysuckle Bloom?

Native Honeysuckles

• Common North American native honeysuckles include trumpet vine honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), hardy from USDA zone 4 through zone 10a, and small bush honeysuckle (Diervilla spp.), hardy from USDA zone 4 through zone 8. Trumpet vine grows to 10 to 15 feet and bears clusters of red, orange and yellow flowers in April or May, depending on the USDA zone. Flowers are tubular and, true to the genus, attract hummingbirds. Unlike other honeysuckles, however, the trumpet, or coral, honeysuckle, does not produce a scent. Small bush honeysuckles bear tubular flowers of red, orange, yellow and purple and bloom in June, July and August from south to north. Red to purple berries follow flowers. The shrubs grow to 3 feet tall and wide and sucker freely.

Non-Native Shrubs

• Asian bush honeysuckles are large, invasive shrubs, growing 6 to 20 feet and forming thickets, first at the edges of wooded areas and working their way into the woods until they kill native vegetation throughout the woods. Tartarian (Lonicera tartarica), Morrow’s (Lonicera morrowii), Belle (Lonicera x bella) and Amur (Lonicera maackii) bush honeysuckle all bear white to pale pink or pale yellow tubular flowers. Flowers bloom from May to June and are followed by large numbers of red or, rarely, yellow berries that ripen through October. In addition to bush honeysuckle’s thicket-forming habit, birds spread the numerous berries.

Japanese Honeysuckles

• Non-native honeysuckles from Asia have earned a reputation as dangerous invasive plants and are on prohibited lists in many states. Nevertheless, cultivars are still available in nurseries and as shared slips from existing plants. Japanese honeysuckle vine (Lonicera japonica), hardy from USDA zone 3 through 10, grows aggressively to 20 feet, forming thick mats on the ground. White to pink tubular flowers appear from late April through July, followed by black berries. Leaves may be semi-evergreen in warmer zones. Japanese honeysuckle out-competes native plants by climbing and girdling branches and trees.

Considerations

• Honeysuckles are best pruned immediately following flowering, which also cuts down on berry production. Pulling all but the oldest honeysuckle by hand works well because honeysuckle roots are shallow -- within a few inches of the surface. Even when established non-native honeysuckles are contained by pruning, pulling and burning in spring, however, their previous production of berries all but guarantees that the plant's colony will expand, sometimes for miles around. When battling Asian honeysuckle, resign yourself to waging war for several years -- and then remaining vigilant for returning generations.