Native Honeysuckle

This is a native honeysuckle, or lonicera sempervirens.  I believe the variety name is Alabama Crimson, but since I threw away the label I'm not sure about that.  I have it growing on our mailbox and it continues to put on quite a show.  The reddish-orange flowers come out in profusion in April and then continue sporadically through the summer.  Hummingbirds dearly love this flower.  It does not have the fragrance of the rampant and invasive Japanese honeysuckle that you commonly see. 

Here is a picture of my vine at peak bloom in April.  Since this time it has completely taken over the mailbox and I have to trim it back so the poor postman can get to the box.  It remains full and lush in its growth with no disease at all.  It's really too bad that so few people down here grow this easy and beautiful vine.  It's native to our country and thrives nearly anywhere.  Mine is growing in full sun, but they grow equally well in partial shade.  They will grow in the cold of zone 4 and the heat of zone 9. 

Coral Honeysuckle - Our Native Beauty

Most people around where I live don't even realize that the common honeysuckle you see on every roadside is actually an invasive non-native plant.  Those yellow fragrant honeysuckles are actually Japanese honeysuckle that have taken over in many places.  The native variety is lonicera sempervirens ("Coral honeysuckle") that you will see pictured below.  Our native variety is not as fragrant as the Japanese honeysuckle, but it makes up for this by being more beautiful and far more attractive to the hummingbirds, butterflies, and song birds.  The tubular, red flowers are probably the favorite food of ruby throated hummingbirds.  Later, the red berries attract many song birds.  The plant is evergreen in mild winters and will come back after colder winters.  This first picture shows the neat clusters of bloom that are so pretty.

As you can see in this next picture, my plant is growing up our mailbox. 

I've seen specimens of this plant that get large and make a beautiful clump on a fence or trellis.  Plant one of these and the hummingbirds will forever thank you.