Evergreen Honeysuckle Lonicera Henryi
For some time now I have been meaning to talk about our Evergreen Honeysuckle which is in in our Cheshire garden.
Having lived in Aberdeen for an extremely long time we had never seen an Evergreen Honeysuckle, well I had seen them in the garden centres, but that’s not an indication that they thrive in the area.
To tell you the truth, when we first arrived at our new house in Cheshire, this evergreen climber interested us, and we had actually made up our minds that it was the Winter flowering evergreen Clematis.
Confirmation of this came about when a blog post in January from Helene of Graphicality uk talked of and showed pictures of Clematis Armandii.
The lack of flower buds on our Clematis brought us to the conclusion that the previous house owner had pruned it in Autumn, and therefore had cut away the shoots that may have produced buds (duh).
Come Spring, low and behold, flower buds started to appear, but they were sort of in clusters.
No way was this a clematis, it soon became clear that our climber was in fact an evergreen form of Honeysuckle.
I wont go through my usual format of plant profile with this one, well its obvious that I don’t have the knowledge
Anyway, it is indeed Honeysuckle (Lonicera Henryi)
This one covers a fair sized area climbing up a fence beside our kitchen window, as you can see in the first picture.
The lower stems are massive and give the impression that it has been here since the house was built in 1982.
The elongated leaves are a dark green, and quite attractive, with a leathery feel and appearance to them.
The flower buds developed through June, and to be quite honest looked at their best before they actually opened.
When they did open in early July they were, to be kind, rather insignificant, quite unlike the appearance of many of the deciduous forms, and although it is said to be fragrant, Myra or myself did not pick up on it.
Well that’s about all I have to say regarding our climbing Honeysuckle, which I should say, with its evergreen leaves, does add some interest to the Winter garden.
***Lonicera Henryi improved form ***
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Spring and Summer has been very pleasant here in Cheshire. The warmer weather has been to our liking although it has been harder to sleep with the night temperatures being higher than we are used to.
The back garden has filled out nicely, very little of the original plants left.
The pictures below give an idea as to how the garden is looking at the moment.
In our first Summer here in Cheshire East I didn’t expect to be quite so pleased with the garden. However, we need! more plants so don’t be surprised if in my next post, very little of the lawn remains.
If you happen to leave a comment I will be sure to visit your site and do the same
I have the exact same honeysuckle growing up the trunk of my lilac tree and can’t wait for it get as lovely looking as yours. Mine didn’t even flower this year, so I can’t tell if it’s as perfumed as is claimed. The rest of your garden borders are looking beautiful!
If your Honeysuckle is to be grown on a trellis or an arbor, put a support structure in place before planting, to avoid damaging your vine.
Hi Frances
The foliage is indeed more important than the flowers with this plant.Myra really is so much better, the house renovation is also finally completed.
as flowers do not last for long anyway, the foliage is more important and if it lasts through winter, it’s a winner, I like the thick twining stems as well, your garden is looking beautiful Alistair and I’m pleased to read Myra is feeling a bit better, winter is never a good time to be in a new place, look forward to seeing what you do in the newly dug bed, Frances
The vine is worth keeping Jennifer even though its not what we first thought it was.
Hi Alistair, I think that it is nice to have a vine in the garden that has as much history as the house. Nice also that it is evergreen. Winter can be dreary and it is nice to have shinny green foliage to see you through the season.
Your borders are looking terrific. I have said it before and I will say it again: I am so amazed at what you have managed to accomplish in your new garden. All your hard work is really paying off.
Hello Helene
In Aberdeen we had the Hydrangea Peteolaris growing up an East facing wall. It looked very good and is fully self clinging, requires only a little support in the first year whilst it is getting to grips with the wall. Not evergreen but well worth consideration, you do actually get an evergreen variety, not sure about its performance though.
Your honeysuckle is really beautiful Alistair, shame it hasn’t got an amazing scent but it looks pretty in bud. I have decided to get rid of my Clematis armandii, after just 2 years, it is simply growing way too big and if I keep hacking off it like I have had to do this spring and summer I will never see any flowers anyway. I am on the hunt for something that can grow on an east facing sheltered wall that won’t become a monster! I would love something that flowers with scent, but I think I want it evergreen so I won’t have to train it up the wall every year, it is a lot of work that high up. I am still looking…
Your borders are looking amazing, I am so jealous of that blue fence of yours, really beautiful backdrop!
The Honeysuckle is a bonus in Winter Debs.
Your honeysuckle has beautiful foliage and its mature architecture has quite a presence. The flower buds are a nice bonus. Your garden is glorious. I admire the variety of perennials you can grow in the summer and their beautiful colors, and I truly love your blue trellis!
The lawn is little more than a walk around path now Carolyn.
I like the evergreen honeysuckle, even the flowers, but have never seen it here so may it’s not hardy. Your garden has a lot more plants and is looking more mature than I expected, very pretty. Of course the lawn has to go!
I hold the record for on-line stupidity Janet. If you are still on the page for the actual post you are commenting on, (previous) is not available. To get to the homepage you have to click the post title or the homepage link at the top, previous is now at the very bottom. Its definitely working here, but is it only working on my pc?
Hi Janet
Not so much grass in the back garden now, its going to be great fun planting up this large bed.
PS The previous/next post links seem to have disappeared? Or am I just being more than averagely stupid?
Goodness Alistair, your garden is looking rather fine, you have achieved a lot in such a short space of time. I fulley expect to see less grass in future posts! I like the foliage of your evergreen honeysuckle, but it’s a shame that the flowers are so insignificant. Fragrance has to be very strong for me to get a good whiff of it in the garden as I don’t have a very good sense of smell, so it would not be a good choice for me!
It all sings so beautifully against that mellow blue fence!
Sarah, back home in Aberdeen the Agapanthus was in pots, here in the ground they have done better than ever.
Doesn’t your garden look wonderful? The Agapanthus look fantastic. I’m pleased the Cheshire climate suits you and all those lovely plants.
Well, you know me by now Linnie, pretty much the instant gardener. What would you expect at my age.
Excellent! Let the wild planting begin!
Guess what Linnie, I have just finished clearing about 25000 of those plants.
I can imagine you had the best time solving that vine mystery Alistair! Sorry there is no fragrance but what a lovely vine, and green all winter too. The gardens are loving you and look so beautifully established already, although I understand completely about your de-lawning propensities. If you think of grass as plants well who needs fifty thousand of one sort of plant right?
Thanks Jane, I may even start to find more time for my on-line activities.
I think we all knew that it wouldn’t take long for you to transform your new patch on earth into a heavenly spot. Already it looks amazing & this is just the beginning. Looking forward to more of this journey 🙂
Hi Anette
Gazanias coming through Winter, that is remarkable. I cant deny, it is milder down here and I do like it, it will never be where our heart is though.
What a lovely splash of green on the fence – shame it isn’t scented though. I did once consider trying it up here, but decided it wasn’t hardy enough.
It must be lovely to have warmer growing conditions – though last winter was so mild that I actually had a couple of Gazanias made it though to flower again this summer. Doesn’t sound like we are going to get the same again……
Hello Donna
Thanks for dropping by. Hope you are still enjoying your retirement. I am sure it will take little improvement to make you happy with your garden again. Cont we just strive for changes in the garden even when it looks perfect to others. Can you believe Autumn is just around the corner.
Alistair it was wonderful to see your post. I had not heard of an evergreen honeysuckle. How nice to have greenery in your winter garden. And what a garden. I shouldn’t be surprised at how gorgeous it is looking and how far it has come. I am ashamed to say mine is a mess. But I have big plans for it and many changes. Now if I only had cooperating weather. With winter my time is cut short here. The echinacea with the agapanthus is my favorite combo.
The garden is taking shape Pam and Myra is a lot better than she was.
The honeysuckle is a good addition to your garden, Alistair. None of mine are fragrant which I really regret. Your summer borders are looking beautiful. I hope your wife is more settled in your new home now. P. x
Your garden looks like you have lived there for decades! Just such a lovely border, so bright with colors. I envy your talents!
The pollinators didn’t seem that interested in this one Angie. Just getting stuck in to the changes today, hard on the knees though.
Hi Sunil
The garden is looking not bad, I reckon this is as wide as the borders will be.
Hi Rick
Its a pity ours wasn’t the fragrantissima. Ah well, as I say it gives a bit of greenery in Winter.
Hi Alistair, good to see a post from you again, I have a similar honeysuckle which could be L.Henryi and like yours is underwhelming particularly as it has no scent, strangely it was actually bought from Grasslands back in the mists of time, hence I can’t remember its name. It grows meshed in with Clematis ‘Giant Star’ and at one stage I had to cut both of them back to the ground, they both survived, although I wouldn’t have been too upset if the honeysuckle hadn’t. The shrubby Lonicera fragrantissima (Winter flowering honeysuckle) however is a different proposition, semi-evergreen and the fragrance of the small white flowers is stunning.
With thick twisted woody stems like those there’s no way it’s a clematis. We have a Lonicera Delavayi, which is also evergreen but is supposedly more tender. It has a powerful fragrance and I can’t wait for it to get to the size of yours. The honeysuckle we had in the previous garden wasn’t fragrant and I’m trying to remember if it looked like Henryi. I don’t have many pictures of it as it had gone rampant and we took it out as it was taking up so much space. I can’t believe you’ve created a beautiful garden so quickly. The borders look crammed and mature, if a bit thin – no doubt that will change quickly.
I can see why you would have thought your plant was C. armandii, they look quite similar don’t they? It makes a lovely statement on the fence Alistair. Is it as popular with pollinators as the deciduous type?
Nice to see that you’ve lots of summer blooms and of course, more to be added if your comments are anything to go by. Good luck with your forecoming improvements!