Hallson Gardens

Has anyone had experience with this vine I hear the Hummers love it .I have been trying to find some actually I may have bought it and forgot where as I keep my records in my head,which is worn out.

Used to have honeysuckle vines everywhere! The hummers love them and so do the bees, which can be a problem so plant away from the house or areas where you plan to spend time. They will spread . I used to love to pull the stamen out and suck the honey when I was a kid. Yum....

Ginger

Asian Honeysuckel is incredibly invasive. Birds eat the seeds and "plant" them in wooded areas. The plants grow so rapidly they cover and outcompete native vegitation.They grow over everything competing for nutriants and breaking limbs.
This is bad for local wildlife because it leaves less diversity. Birds and animals need a wide variety of fruits and seeds to get proper nutrition. When honeysuckle starts blooming take a look as you drive by wooded areas near homes. Around here it is amazing how much is covered with it.
There are so many beautiful plants that hummers are attracted to that don't cause this problem. Look into what is native to your area.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rpt ... atefips=33

http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html

I grow Lonicera heckrotti 'Pink Lemonade' and my hummers definitely like it and so do I. I've never had a bee problem with it at all. As far as spreading, I grow mine on trellises, fences, and free-form (I've started a few . My vine will sometimes root where it touches the ground -- but that's infrequent. I just cut it back if/when I want to reshape it or get it under control again.

I have Lonicera sempervirens that OED gave me......Hummers love it! It is anon-invasive native cousin of the Japanese honeysuckle.

I inherited a lovely yellow and white honeysuckle vine when I bought my house. I don't know the specific variety. It does grow well but I wouldn't consider it invasive, like goldenrod or other aggressive plants. I'm in SE Michigan. It twines around the junk trees which repeatedly sprout up alongside the garage but doesn't kill them like morning glories do. (I wish it did - I'm tired of the trees of heaven and mulberries sprouting up all over, thanks in part to the hungry raccoons and birds.)

The fragrance is lovely and can be detected from a good 20 feet away. In fact I can still smell it after having been in the area in which it grows.

I've never seen any hummers on my vines, but it's always possible they're there when I'm not observing the vine.

My plans for it eventually are to learn how to preserve the fragrance so I can add it to cornstarch for a home made honeysuckle powder.

Wow, WindDancer, your honeysuckle vine sounds wonderful, as does your honeysuckle powder! What a cool idea. I hope that you succeed! and if you do, please tell how you did it!

BTW: Last year I planted one of my 'pink lemonade' honeysuckle vines at the back edge of the yard. Whenever I work near there this year, the hummingbirds have been flying in and sitting on the topmost branch of the vine and just watching me! I got to see an amazing "shuttle display" around the vine by two of them a couple weeks ago. Awesome. It's only the 2nd time I've seen a shuttle display and they were very different, but distinctly recognizable.

PartyMusic, I'll try to take some photos of portions of my honeysuckle vine. I don't have a digital camera so it'll be awhile before I get the photos developed. If you're in the SE Michigan area, you're welcome to some cuttings.

Yes, I do love my honeysuckle vine! Next year I'll root cuttings and trellis the vines around my windows. It will be wonderful to open the windows in the morning and smell the lovely honeysuckle fragrance.

I'm not familiar with a shuttle display. What is it?

I did see a lovely little yellow hummer flitting around some bull thistles, which have been a real nuisance. The little yellow hummer is the only positive thing about the thistles. They could easily substitute for a burglar alarm - no one could get past them without being torn by their thorns.

Thanks for responding to my post.