974 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE, 
December 27, 1913. 
THE BEST HONEYSUCKLES. 
The observant person^ ignorant alike of 
botanical establishments and of gardening 
encjdopsedias, who spent his leisure in 
visiting our English gardens, might well 
be excused if he arrived at the conclusion 
that there were only two distinct honey¬ 
suckles worth growing, for during his 
perambulations he would rarely meet 
with more. These are our native Loni- 
oei’a Periclymenum and the form of 
the Japanese L. japonica, with yellow- 
spotted leaves, two vei^y charming and 
valuable climbers; but there are others 
—-many others. 
pileata, a dwarf spreading evergreen, is 
useful in the rock garden, a place whei'e 
several of the best deciduous sorts should 
be planted. 
But nearly all the true bush honeysuckles 
are singularly deficient in fragrance. The 
best, from a cultural point of view, L. 
Maacki, a comparatively recent introduc¬ 
tion from China, does not appeal to me, 
and I have always regretted having been 
beguiled by the R.H.S. Award of Merit 
into purchasing it. My disappointment 
was great, and I should have done better 
had I obtained a L. sempervirens to train 
LONICERA PERICLYMENUM. 
Altogether tliere are well over one hun¬ 
dred species and varieties of Lonicera, and. 
in addition, a goodly number of hybrids 
have been raised on the Continent^ but, 
curiously enough, chiefly between species 
which one would not include in a list of 
the twenty best honeysuckles. The in¬ 
ference is that new, rather than im¬ 
proved, forms were aimed at. The honey¬ 
suckle hybridist who can give us a really 
good bush Lonicera, which has the fra¬ 
grance of L. Periclymenum or L. fragran- 
tissima, would earn the lifelong gratitude 
of many thousands of gardeners and inci¬ 
dentally, much money. 
Lonicera nitida, one of the newest bush 
honeysuckles, has the virtue of fragrance, 
and it makes a fairly good shrub of medium 
size, but the creamy-white flowers are not 
^rne in sufl&cient quantity to make it the 
ideal bush species, and the colour is cold. 
L. tatarica and L. tibetica, both of which 
have rosy-coloured flowers (and the latter 
tare very fragrant), are of bushy habit, and 
probably have great potential value. L. 
against the warmest wall of the dwelling- 
house. The latter North American spe¬ 
cies^ and its variety minor, are not quite 
hardy enough for outdoor planting, but 
make charming cool greenhouse rafter 
plants, when^ during the spring and sum- 
fuer—rand often again^ in a lesser degree, 
towards the end of the autumn—the scarlet 
and yellow flowers are delightful. The type 
will pass safely through a very hard 
winter when trained against a really 
warm wall. 
L. Standishi and L. fragrantissimja are 
even more valuable than the last in such a 
position. Under this condition their flower¬ 
ing period is lengthened, and the fragrance 
is intensified. Even w'hen grown in the 
conventional manner these two honeysuckles 
are exceedingly valuable, for not only do 
they flower at a time when few hardy flower¬ 
ing shrubs are blooming, but the 
number which bear fragrant blooms in 
February, or often earlier in the year, is 
notably small. These early-flowering 
honeysuckles must not be pruned when the 
others are receiving attention; unless tlie 
work IS delayed until after the flowerine 
season is past there will be very little 
bloom. 
The best of the summer-flowering honey 
suckles is our native species, with the 
Dutch and late Dutch varieties. The 
flow'ering period varies with the season. If 
June and July should be hot and dry this 
IS approximately the limit of blossoming, 
but in a moist year the flowering is pro¬ 
longed into August, and often till the mid. 
die of September. Personally, I do not 
think that the longer period compensates 
for the loss of the almost startling fra¬ 
grance of the hotter years. Who has not 
mem.ories of a dusty hedgerow on a blazing 
midsummer’s day when from the limp 
and apparently lifeless yellow-tinted 
flowers of the honeysuckle came wafts of 
the most delicious peidume? This native 
species is no plant for the trim gardener; 
it is not for one who has a place for every 
plant, and whose shrubbery is composed 
of severe specimens, each occupying its 
allotted space and no more. To derive the 
greatest enjoyment from it the twining 
growths must be subjected to no severe 
discipline, but, like the Drakes and 
Raleighs olf the “ good old days,” be given 
leave to go off on a roving commission and 
take possession, often kindly enough, of 
whatever they happen upon. Then will it 
give plenteously of its grace and fra¬ 
grance ; but crab it and confine it, and 
it sulks. It is for this reason, because 
it is really a wild creature and cannot 
be ever thoroughly tamed, that the stan¬ 
dard-trained efforts of the Continental 
nurserymen are so unsatisfactory. 
The Goat’s-leaf Honeysuckle (L. capri- 
folium) has so long been naturalised that we 
may almost look upon it as being a native. 
It has certain features in common with 
L. Periclymenum, but the deeper yellowish 
flowers have bluisli tubes, the stems t^vine 
from left to right, and it flowers earlier 
than the time native species, but is equally 
fragrant. The Japanese L. japonica flexuosa 
IS as fragrant as any honeysuckle, but 
its yellow flowers are comparatively few. 
The paler yellow L. flava, from North 
America, is another exceedingly fragrant 
species. 
Although we find an oooasional example 
out of doors in Cornwall, the largest- 
flowered species, L. Hildebrandiana, is de¬ 
cidedly tender, and must be grown in a 
greenhouse. The flowers are four to six 
inches long, and, opening nearly white, 
soon become golden-yellow in colour, and 
on exposure to strong sun change to 
orange-crimson. The leaves are correspond¬ 
ingly large, and of a rich green. 
Cecil Aubrey. 
EUPATORIUM 
WEINMANNIANUM. 
Residents in the particularly favoured 
parts of these islands regard this Eupa- 
torium as a valuable outdoor shrub, as 
its blossoms are produced during the autumn 
and early winter months. Where the win¬ 
ters are too severe for it to be looked upon 
as an outdoor plant it forms a very attrac¬ 
tive feature in the greenhouse or conserva¬ 
tory, because, when at its best, it is a mass 
of clusters of white, sweet-scented blossoms. 
There are other Eupatoriums well worth cul¬ 
tivation, but E. Weinmannianum and the 
looser-growing E. reparium are the fi^*®^ 
bloom. Of those that flower early in the 
New Year, I may mention the blush-tintea 
E. petiolare, and the sturdy-growing, white- 
flowered E. vernale. In the spring E. ian- 
thinum, with lilac-coloured heads of blos¬ 
soms, is at its best.—W^. T. 
