The scent of summer
Nothing sums up the season of blissful fragrance like honeysuckle – and it looks magnificent too!
I’VE lived in five different cities over the past quarter of a century, yet when summer arrives, my heart still pines for the small market town of my youth. In those days, nothing gave me greater pleasure than exploring the surrounding countryside on my bike, meandering along bosky lanes infused with the sweet scent of honeysuckle.
Miles of local back roads were perfumed by the pretty flowers of our native woodbine, Lonicera periclymenum. Its long, vigorous stems scrambled up trees and through hedgerows, producing a haze of creamy white blooms that opened in June and remained until early autumn.
Sadly, there are no winding lanes and hedgerows filled with native shrubs nor wild stands of honeysuckle in the city suburb where I now live.ve. There is, however, the next best thing – loads of gardens enlivenedvened with ornamental honey- eysuckles t hat pack an equally strong scent.
Combini n g fr u i t y, honey a nd ci t r us y notes, honeysuckle flowers are not just loved by gardeners. Bees and butterflies are drawn t o t hem during the day, while the scent intensifies at t night to attract moths.
Honeysuckles belongg to t he caprifoliaceae plant family – other memberss include leycesteria, weigela and abelia. Their botanical name honours Adamus Lonicerus, a 16th Century German botanist, while its most widely used common moniker, honeysuckle, i s derived f r om the custom of country children sucking or drinking the sweet nectar from the flowers.
These flowers come in shades of white, cream, yellow, pink, orange, red and purple. Some are a single shade, while the showiest boast two-tone blooms. The best for scent are those closely related to our native honeysuckle. Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ boasts reddish-purple flowers and ‘Belgica’ has been grown since the 17th Century for its tubular white flowers streaked with red. L. periclymenum ‘ Graham Thomas’ is named after the author, noted horticulturist and post-war adviser to the National Trust. It boasts creamy white flowers that age to a golden yellow – Thomas spotted it in a hedgerow near Warwick in the 1960s. For sheer flower power, check out Lonicera x heckrottii ‘Gold Flame’, with its pink and yellowyello blooms that appear from JuneJ until August. ‘ ‘M Mandarin’ i s a fairly recentrec introduction, boastingbo cl usters of orangey-o red flowers withw a yellow throat. Lonicera x brownii ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ is another eye-catcher, thanks to its trumpetshapeds scarlet flowers.e It’s a useful plant forfo screening as the foliagefoli remains on stems duringdurin mild winters. HoneysucklesHone prefer fertile, moistmois but well-drained soil in sun or lightli shade. They are perfect trained up walls, fences or garden structures. Remember that it’s not a self-clinging climber so will need training wires, mesh, trellis or similar support put in place. An exciting way of growing them is to train them into the branches of other plants. Plant honeysuckles about 12in from supports. Dig a planting hole about twice the size of the pot and twice as wide. Gently tease out roots if they are congested, then plant in the centre of the hole – the top of the rootball should be at the same level as the surface. Carefully untie the climber from its origi- nal bamboo cane and place three new garden canes in the ground, angling them towards your vertical supports. Attach stems to the canes, winding them around in a clockwise fashion, and hold in place with soft twine.