By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star on April 2, 2004
The NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!) plant for April is coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). The word “honeysuckle” might frighten some home gardeners because of the bad reputation of Japanese honeysuckle (L. japonica), one of the most notorious invasive exotic plants ever introduced into this country.
Never fear; the coral honeysuckle is easily contained. It will not invade the whole yard. On a fence or trellis, coral honeysuckle will bloom off and on for most of the year. Its whorls of bright-red trumpet flowers, shiny dark-green oval or oblong leaves, and red berries make this honeysuckle a showy vine for home landscaping. Hummingbirds are attracted to the blooms, and other birds come for the fall fruit.
Other common names for L. sempervirens are woodbine, trumpet honeysuckle, red honeysuckle, and evergreen honeysuckle. This vine is widely available at local nurseries, and sometimes varieties with cream-colored or yellow flowers also can be purchased.
Coral honeysuckle is a native of East Texas and much of the eastern US. In Central Texas it is reported in Hays and Travis Counties. There even are reports of L. sempervirens from Bandera and Kerr Counties, but coral honeysuckle is not typical of the Edwards Plateau flora. Despite its natural range, coral honeysuckle does well in gardens in the Boerne area. It grows in part shade or full sun. Our neighbor across the street has a profusely blooming vine which grows from a raised bed in partial shade. Coral honeysuckle apparently tolerates a wide variety of soils, and once established, it requires very little watering. Unfortunately, in our neighborhood coral honeysuckle needs to be protected from browsing whitetail deer.
The Boerne Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas provides free planting and care instructions for coral honeysuckle at the nurseries participating in Operation NICE!: Barkley’s Nursery Center, Boerne in Bloom Garden Center, Hill Country African Violets and Nursery, and Maldonado Landscape and Nursery.
There is a honeysuckle native to the Boerne area that also should be considered for home landscaping. This is the white bush honeysuckle (L. albiflora), also called Texas honeysuckle. This honeysuckle occurs naturally in Texas over much of the Edwards Plateau as well as North Texas and Trans-Pecos Texas. White bush honeysuckle is non-aggressive and generally grows as a white-flowered bush with some vine-like branches.
For the last couple of years, I have participated in restoration of the riparian habitat at the Cibolo Nature Center. This particular ecological restoration involves only removal, not addition, of plant species. We are attempting to eliminate the invasive exotic species, which are replacing the native vegetation. So far, we have had some success in getting rid of large numbers of Chinese tallow and ligustrum.
Another Asian exotic which may prove impossible to eliminate is the Japanese honeysuckle, washed downstream from Boerne yards. So many stream banks, woods, and bushy areas all over the South are invaded by Japanese honeysuckle that many people think it is a natural part of Southern vegetation. It is not, and once Japanese honeysuckle establishes itself in a locality, it is difficult to remove.
Some parts of the Cibolo Creek bank are impenetrable because of the tangled masses of Japanese honeysuckle. It is choking out many native bushes and small trees. Can it ever be removed? In the interest of the health of our ecological system, coral honeysuckle and white bush honeysuckle are better choices for home landscapes than the traditional and widely available, but highly invasive, Japanese honeysuckle.
