Coral Honeysuckle / Trumpet Honeysuckle Vines for Northeast Florida
Coral honeysuckle is one of my absolute favorite plants for Northeast Florida climbing structures like arbors and fences and trellises. They just seem to always be in bloom and are such an easy plant to get established after planting and to care for I just cant see what’s not to love about them.
Botanical / Binomial name and Origin of Coral Honeysuckle/ Trumpet Honeysuckle
What’s in a name you say? Well sometimes a lot and sometimes just a quick reference guide that tells you a bit about the plant. Coral honeysuckle is botanically known as Lonicera sempervirens and is pronounced ( lo-NISs-er-ah sem- per-VY-renz) the genus lonicera is from the family Caprifoliaceae that so far includes over 150 species in North America, Eurasia and Africa. They area group of arching shrubs or twining vines. The species name sempervirens means evergreen.
Coral Honeysuckles are native to Florida with vouchered specimens in North and Central Florida areas and thrive in our subtropical climate zones in Northeast Florida gardens. In fact, they can withstand hard frosts and freezes al the way down to gardening zone 4 and is native to much of the eastern US! So even gardeners far to the North of us can enjoy these beautiful profusely blooming garden gems.
Sun Exposure and Soil Preferencefor Coral Honeysuckle / Trumpet Honeysuckle in Northeast Florida:
Coral Honeysuckle occurs naturally in scrubby flatwoods, sandhills, open woodlands, floodplain forests and hardwood hammocks. Basically, its pretty tolerant but tends to be happiest in sandy or well drained soils that remain dry to moist but not wet and in full sun to moderate shade.
Blooms and Berries of Coral Honeysuckle / Trumpet Honeysuckle in Northeast Florida Gardens and Landscapes:
Coral honeysuckle has beautiful tubular blooms that emerge scarlet red to reddish orange and fade as they age to a lovely coral color and have yellowish orange throats. The flower stamens extend beyond the flower tube and the anthers are bright yellow in color. Each bloom is 2 inches or longer and form on the plant in dangling little clusters. They attract butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other pollinator insects and are a wonderful wildlife attractor. They brightly adorn the plant for much of the year here in NE Fl. The fruits are bright orange red berries that form in the fall and provide a much needed source of food for the birds!
Foliage of the Coral Honeysuckle / Trumpet Honeysuckle in Northeast Florida Gardens:
Foliage coloration is a bright green with soft silvery or grey green undersides , oval to oblong in shape with entire margins ( not divided) . They are arranged oppositely along the stem and are sessile or simple and are clasping 9 wrapping around the stem somewhat) directly underneath the base of the flowers.
Coral Honeysuckle remains mostly evergreen in NE Florida. In cooler climate zones they may be semi-evergreen or winter dormant.
Growth Habit and Mature Size of Coral Honeysuckle / Trumpet Honeysuckle in NE FLlorida Landscapes:
Coral honeysuckle grows fast! You can expect your newly planted coral honeysuckle to have covered your structure in its second to third year in the landscape. You only need one plant to cover a 4 to 6 ft fence panel, simply direct your newly planted vines sideways instead of up onto your trellis arch or arbor and it will both fill in nicely width wise and of coarse find its way upward. Each stem can reach 15-20 ft in height so don’t be afraid to tuck them in sideways on your garden structure!
Care of Coral Honeysuckle in your NE Florida Garden:
One of my MOST FAVORITE things about Coral Honeysuckle is that it is absolutely easy to care for! Water it for the first few weeks after planting daily to get it established into the landscape and then just sit back and watch it grow. Just don’t feed it too much high nitrogen fertilizers or you may get lots of foliage at the expense of your beautiful flowers. It blooms on new growth so trim any time you feel the need.
Coral honeysuckle is rarely bothered by pests that would make a significant issue for you to deal with but is however listed by the Florida Native Plant Society as a larval host plant to two species of pollinator insects.
The Spring Azure Butterfly ( celastrina ladon) whos distribution map covers parts of NE Florida as well as some panhandle areas. I have only in all my years of buttefly spotting seen this 2 or 3 times but man they are pretty little things and unfortunately for me super fast, my pictures are all garbage! Someday….
They are also listed as a host plant species for Snowberry Clearwing moth( hemaris diffinis ) generally found north of our climate zone in the eastern and central portions of the US.