Honeysuckle
Afavourite of many gardeners, especially for its exquisite, sweet, captivating scent, the common native honeysuckle or woodbine, Lonicera periclymenum, has been grown in gardens for hundreds of years. A twining, evergreen or semi-deciduous climber to 7m (23ft), it grows on woodland margins, clearings, scrubland and in hedgerows across most of Britain and Europe. It produces whorls of long-lived, tubular, two-lipped flowers in creamy-white to yellow shades. They’re rich in nectar and powerfully scented, making it good for wildlife. In the wild, it attracts the rare white admiral and dormice, but in gardens long-tongued bees
and other butterflies will feed on the flowers. Particularly scented at night, the flowers also attract moths, especially the hummingbird hawk-moth. The insects can detect scent from a quarter of a mile away. Birds, especially thrushes, warblers and bullfinches, will feast on the ripe, red berries in autumn.
Few grow the type species, preferring the varieties that have evolved over the years, such as early Dutch honeysuckle ‘Belgica’, which flowers in May, and late Dutch honeysuckle, ‘Serotina’, which flowers in July. Recent introductions, such as ‘Sweet Sue’ and ‘Graham Thomas’ have a better habit and scent, while ‘Chic Et Choc’ is really compact at 90cm (3ft) tall.
Adaptable to sun or shade, honeysuckle grows in most soils, preferring its roots in cooler soil and its head in sun.