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. There is, however, the next best thing – loads of gardens enlivened with ornamental honeysuckles that pack an equally strong scent.
Combining fruity, honey and citrusy notes, honeysuckle flowers are not just loved by gardeners. Bees and butterflies are drawn to them during the day, while the scent intensifies at night to attract moths.
Honeysuckles belong to the caprifoliaceae plant family – other members include leycesteria, weigela and abelia. Their botanical name honours Adamus Lonicerus, a 16th Century German botanist, while its most widely used common moniker, honeysuckle, is derived from 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 yellow blooms that appear from June until August. ‘Mandarin’ is a fairly recent introduction, boasting clusters of orangey-red flowers with a yellow throat. Lonicera x brownii ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ is another eye-catcher, thanks to its trumpetshaped scarlet flowers. It’s a useful plant for screening as the foliage remains on stems during mild winters. Honeysuckles prefer fertile, moist but well-drained soil in sun or light 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.