All the Dirt on Gardening

Honeysuckle is one of those plants that gardeners either love or consider a weed to be fought against at all costs. Most of the time, the fight is against the Japanese or Asian species because it has made such a pest of itself throughout all the temperate gardening zones. Japanese, Korean or Chinese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica, is spread when birds eat the black seeds that form in the fall. Once it takes hold, it can spread widely (and wildly), choking out all the native plants and tripping hikers. But there are over 200 species of honeysuckle and some of them are   useful on fences, in wooded areas, on stream banks and slopes. Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, in our yard Coral honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, has many common names, including: Evergreen Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodbine, Scarlet Trumpet, Red Honeysuckle, and Red Woodbine. This one is an American native, twining, vine that grows well in its native range, reaching from Ontario Canada,...