Bush Honeysuckle
Diervilla lonicera
A well-behaved native honeysuckle with yellow midsummer blooms for hummingbirds. Spreads to hold slopes and dry, rocky spots where shrubs fail.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The native answer to invasive bush honeysuckle. it handles tough dry slopes, feeds hummingbirds, and keeps spreading without any help.
Native bush honeysuckle bears no resemblance to the invasive Japanese honeysuckle that smothers roadsides here in Virginia. This is a compact, well-behaved native shrub with tubular yellow flowers in midsummer that attract hummingbirds and long-tongued bees. The foliage often takes on reddish-bronze tones in full sun, adding a warm accent through the growing season. Where it really earns its place is on slopes, banks, and difficult dry or rocky spots where other shrubs fail. It spreads by rhizomes to knit together a dense colony that controls erosion and shades out weeds, ideal for low-maintenance edges and problem areas. Cut it back hard in early spring and it regrows vigorously with fresh new foliage and better bloom.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown bush honeysuckle propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant bush honeysuckle instead of Japanese bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), Morrow's honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii). Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 2–4 ft · 36–60 in wide
- Bloom time
- Midsummer
- Bloom color
- Yellow
- USDA zones
- 3–7
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae
- Native range
- Northeastern North America
Care notes for bush honeysuckle.
Full sun to part shade in dry to average, well-drained soil. Excellent for poor soils and slopes. Spreads by underground rhizomes. can be aggressive in ideal conditions. Cut back by one-half to two-thirds in late winter for best growth and flower display. Essentially pest and disease free.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside bush honeysuckle.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.