Honeysuckle Gold Flame questions

I bought two of these for a arbor I have. How fast do they grow and can you eat them like the wild honeysuckle or no??

Not sure but I love this vine. Looking for one myself.

Sylvia

In my experience with Lonicera, they grow pretty fast .. faster if you feed them. As far as I know Lonicera are not poisonous, but don't take that as a certainty.

X

I don't know about sucking the nectar (for humans!), but my hummers enjoy dining at my Lonicera x heckrottii Goldflame Honeysuckle. I bought mine several years ago and planted it at a trellis getting eastern exposure. The plant wasn't getting enough sun and mildew appeared on the leaves. I cut the plant back to about 3 inches, trimmed off all the mildew leaves, potted, and let the plant recover in a more sun-friendly place. When new growth stared I replanted in a full-sun-southside-garden-bed and gave it a very tall oblesik to climb. The plant went crazy. It out grew the cage, especially the narrow, pointed top of the oblesik. In the spring (my ground gently slopes towards this southern flower bed) all the rains drain that way. A very wet spring drowned the butterfly bush in the same bed, but the honeysuckle floursihed. Honeysuckles like a lot of moisture. Each spring when new buds appear, I cut the plant back to about 6 inches. Last fall I cut the plant back 2 seasons early because I had a bee balm nearby, whose mildew leaves touched honeysuckle leaves, and passed along the white fur. (Ugly! The bee balm has been relocated.) I wasn't sure about the honeysuckle going through the winter trimmed down, but we have had another wet spring with lots of drainage, and new growth emerged right on time. But this year I changed the climbing cage. The honeysuckle needs more freedom than an oblesik offers, or the restrictions of a flat trellis, so I bought a very tall rose arbor and the plant is just now vining over the top. I just redirect the vines when they wave in the breeze. The only time I actually have to water the honeysuckle is during July and August when it's very hot and very dry here. (St. Louis, MO) Each spring when I trim the plant back, I also add some home-worked compost around the base and a sprinkle of slow release fertilizer. It seems to work. My honeysuckle blooms from spring to fall. I dead-head spent blooms and prune wayward vines, which promotes new growth, and this species blooms on new growth.