Coral Honeysuckle

• Botanical name: Lonicera sempervirens
• Other common names: trumpet honeysuckle, woodbine
• Light: Full sun, part shade
• Water needs: dry, medium
• Soil: clay, loam
• Height: 10 – 20 ft (vine)
• Bloom: March – September
• Sociability rating: 2
• Wildlife value: Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, Snowberry Clearwing host, Spring Azure host

Coral honeysuckle is a twining native vine with dark blue-green leaves and showy, trumpet-shaped flowers in red to orange-red with yellow interiors. It blooms from spring into summer and is one of the best native plants for attracting hummingbirds, which are its primary pollinators. Bees, butterflies, and some moths visit as well, and songbirds eat the small red berries that appear in late summer. It is a larval host for the Spring Azure butterfly and the Snowberry Clearwing moth.

It grows in full sun to partial shade in well-drained, moderately moist soil. Best flowering happens in full sun. It needs a trellis, arbor, or fence to climb, though it can also sprawl as a ground cover. It’s salt tolerant and deer resistant, making it a good choice for a range of garden conditions.

This vine is one of the easiest vines to manage in the home landscape, as it does not physically attach itself to the object it is vining on (unlike English Ivy) and will not damage buildings.