Bush Honeysuckle Identification
Despite its native range being in southern states such as Virginia, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, the bush honeysuckle grows as a landscaping shrub in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 5. Bush honeysuckle is a useful tool for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, notes the Missouri Botanical Garden. Identify this shrub from its foliage, size, shape and its handsome flowers. Does this Spark an idea?
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Size and Form
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The size of the bush honeysuckle varies, with most between 3 and 5 feet high. The shrub spreads out to widths equal to its height, according to the University of Connecticut Plant Database. One feature of this honeysuckle species is that it will generate new growth from its own roots, resulting in thickets of the bush being present in the wild.
Foliage
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Bush honeysuckle is a deciduous shrub, with its leaves opposite each other on the twigs of the plant, two per each growing node. The lane-shaped foliage is dark green, with the newer growth taking on a bronze appearance until turning green. The leaves are from 2 to 6 inches in length, with widths between 1 and 3 inches. The edges have sharp serrations. The leaves attach directly to the twigs, without the presence of a stem.
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Flowers
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Blooming from June into August, the bush honeysuckle's flowers appeal to gardeners for use as a container plant, in group plantings, in shrub borders or as a foundation plant. The fragrant flowers emerge on top of the stems in clusters of from three to seven. The individual flowers are ½ inch wide and they are a sulfur-yellow color.
Cool Splash Cultivar
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Cool Splash is a smaller form of bush honeysuckle, a cultivar growing between 2 and 3 feet high. Cool Splash differs from the parent species in that it features variegated leaves. The 4-inch-long leaves have darkly shaded centers of green, but the border of each leaf has a cream-white to yellow color. The trumpet-shaped flowers are yellow, blooming in June and continuing to flower until July.
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