Honeysuckle honeysuckle is a beautiful and fragrant decorative vine, the name of which translates as "captivating dream." Gardeners for many years widely use it for vertical gardening in personal plots and cottages. Unusual elongated inflorescences attract not only the shape, but also the variety of colors.
Botanical Description
Honeysuckle honeysuckle (Lonicera caprifolium) refers to one of the species of climbing multi-flowered shrub plants belonging to the family of honeysuckle. Its name comes from the Latin caprifolium (literally "goat leaf") and means a plant in which the stem grows from the central part of the leaves. Among the people, it has several original names: "goat leaf", "Italian honeysuckle", "fragrant", etc.
Honeysuckle honeysuckle creeper is the country of origin of the South-East of Great Britain, but in nature it can be found throughout Europe. It is used as a decorative plant for decorating gazebos and parks; in some countries, its medicinal characteristics are used for astringent and diuretic properties. There are edible varieties, the fruits of which can be eaten, and dried flowers are often added to tea for a pleasant aroma. The same properties are used in the perfumery and cosmetic industries.
The height of the liana can reach 6 m, the shape of the leaves differs depending on the variety: variations from ovoid to ellipsoid. Honeysuckle leaves grow in pairs, forming "saucers", from which then inflorescences begin to grow. The color of the leaves is also original: the top is shiny dark green, the bottom is blue-gray. The lower ones grow from short stems and have a wide base.
Flowers and fruits
Honeysuckle fragrant liana honeysuckle usually begins to bloom in mid-May, but also depends on the region and weather conditions. The whole vine is covered with fragrant beautiful flowers that attract many bees, bumblebees and other beneficial insects.
Flowers of an unusual “sitting” shape are decorated with long stamens and are collected at the ends of branches in bunches of 3-6 pieces, each length up to 5 cm. They grow from the sinuses of leaves fused at the base. Honeysuckle flowering lasts about 3 weeks, and the life of each flower is even shorter - 3 days. Flowers can tolerate cooling to -7º.
Fruits - juicy berries of bright red or coral color, in honeysuckle they are inedible. In some varieties, they are edible and have different taste qualities: sweet, sour, etc. Fruiting begins 3-4 years after the planting of annual sprouts. Ripening is fast enough: in the first half of June, fruits appear earlier than strawberries and strawberries. Berries also fall quickly, which is a drawback, so you need to harvest using a film spread under a plant on the ground.
Fruits - juicy and rich in sugars, vitamins, acids and other useful substances, are consumed fresh or processed, preparations are made (stewed fruit, jams, juices) for the winter. Juice can be used as a food coloring.
Legends and Symbols
In ancient legends and works of literature, the honeysuckle plant was often associated with a devoted feeling of love. For example, in the legend of Tristan, his beloved Isolde is compared with a delicate and beautiful honeysuckle flower, in others he symbolizes passion and devotion, eternal love.
In addition to beautiful flowers, this plant has a pleasant, wonderful aroma, which becomes stronger in the evening.
Landing and care
One of the most important advantages of honeysuckle honeysuckle - planting, care and propagation of it is quite simple and not difficult. The main condition for good growth is the presence of a support, with the help of which you can direct its growth so that it swims quickly upward. Moreover, the higher the support, the faster and higher it will climb to a height. By the fifth year of life, the plant usually gains a maximum height, which can reach 5-6 m. During growth, young shoots cling tightly to both the support and the nearest rough surfaces, which can facilitate the process of reproduction.
When planting honeysuckle, honeysuckle should be borne in mind that she does not like replanting, so it must be planted immediately in a permanent place in prepared, loosened and moistened soil. The plant prefers neutral acid soils and does not tolerate heavy loams, especially dry ones.
The size of the landing pit is 50 cm in depth, width and height, drainage is placed at the bottom (gravel, crumb brick, etc.). Planting is carried out in the spring, for which they take a sprout with several buds, from which young shoots will grow in the future.
After rooting, it is recommended to fertilize with mineral and organic fertilizers, you can take a mixture of manure (humus for at least two years ago), nitrogen and potassium.
Many gardeners prefer to plant honeysuckle in a peat compost prepared from plant waste, but it can also be added to the planting pit or trench, where several plants are planted in a row.
Before planting, peat compost, organic and mineral fertilizers, which are thoroughly mixed with the soil, must be added to the pit. Then sprouts are planted. With proper planting, by the end of the summer season young shoots will grow, adding annually up to 2 m in length. After reaching the desired height of the bush, the top must be clipped, which will contribute to the growth of side shoots.
According to the experience of gardeners with honeysuckle in their area, caring for the plant in the summer months consists of regular and frequent loosening and watering so that the soil does not dry out. Every month, the bush is fed humus with the addition of 500 g of wood ash.
Wintering and spring pruning
With the approach of cold weather, it is not necessary to cover or shoot the grown shoots, because the plant is quite cold-resistant. Trimming is also not necessary. If severe frosts are expected, then the young bushes are covered for the first 2 years with spruce top, and the roots are insulated with peat or dry leaves.
In the spring, the plant immediately starts letting out fresh shoots and it will be seen which of them have wintered well and which have died, and they need to be cut. However, this will not be noticeable immediately, because the kidneys on the honeysuckle appear late. We'll have to wait a bit until it becomes clearly visible where the dead sprouts and where the living. In addition, new shoots always grow from hidden pockets, and it will then become clear at what level to trim.
Honeysuckle honeysuckle can be planted both in a sunny place and in partial shade, however, abundant flowering occurs only in good light.
Honeysuckle propagation by seeds
There are 3 ways to propagate honeysuckle honeysuckle: using cuttings, seeds or layering.
Propagation by seeds is a rather lengthy process; moreover, during storage each year their germination will decrease: after 4-5 years it is already only 5%. They are collected during the flowering period of the bush (July), separated from the pulp, washed well and dried at room temperature.
Before sowing, they need to carry out stratification: put in wet sand for a long time in a cool place for at least 2 months. Experienced gardeners make a mixture of seeds and moist sand in a ratio of 1: 3 and put in the refrigerator. When they have grown enough, they are planted in separate pots to a depth of 2 cm and continue to grow in a greenhouse, then planted in open ground in the shade. Leaving consists in regular watering and weed sowing. In autumn, grown seedlings are planted in a permanent place and mulch peat before winter.
Propagation by cuttings
Cuttings begin to be done when an adult plant is already fading (early July). Cuttings with 2 internodes are cut, the lower leaves are removed, the upper ones are shortened. Young shoots are planted in a greenhouse in a mixture of peat, sand and garden soil (in a ratio of 2: 2: 1) with a distance of 20 cm, and the pots are covered with glass or polyethylene. For good growth, it is recommended to spray the cuttings three times a day.
The first leaves appear after 30 days, after which the shelter is removed. In winter, the sprouts are mulched with peat, and with the onset of veins they are already planted in open ground, deepening the root neck to activate the accessory roots. The rooting percentage is 50%.
Layering
The easiest way to propagate honeysuckle is to root the cuttings, which are cut and dug into the ground, and the liana itself continues to grow further. In the place where the incision is made, the formation of roots begins. After this, the twig should be separated from the bush and planted in a permanent place.
Diseases and Pests
Honeysuckle honeysuckle is susceptible to mold damage and the invasion of certain pests: garden aphids, scabies, leafworms and others. Chemical control agents are selected taking into account the type of insect.
When growing this plant for prevention, it is necessary to observe some rules:
- after top dressing with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, honeysuckle juice becomes tasteless for aphids and many leaf-eating pests, therefore, to fight them, it is recommended to sprinkle ash, lime and superphosphate into the trunk circle;
- to destroy insects that can overwinter with foliage, it is necessary to spray the plants with a 5% urea solution;
- To control pests, you can use biological products: "Lepocide", "Bitoxybacillin" containing bacteria that destroy harmful insects from the inside.
Healing properties
For medicinal purposes, use the flowers of fragrant honeysuckle honeysuckle, stems and leaves, which are better to collect during flowering, then dry and chop. The first ones contain essential oils that produce a pleasant juicy aroma, in homeopathy they use the alcohol essence of this aphrodisiac, whose smell calms the nervous system, improves mood and improves well-being. Berries - poisonous and inedible, can cause indigestion.
Honeysuckle tincture or decoction has an astringent and diuretic effect upon ingestion, it is also used to lower the temperature (has a diaphoretic and antipyretic effect for colds), externally - to heal wounds and relieve inflammation in the form of lotions or compresses, rinses with angina and stomatitis. Also, honeysuckle infusion is often used to strengthen hair and treat baldness.
Honeysuckle varieties
This plant has many varieties and classification options for various properties: according to the height of the bush, by decorativeness (bushes and vines), by the taste of the fruit (for edible species).
According to reviews about honeysuckle honeysuckle, caring for it does not present any difficulties. Many gardeners grow several varieties of these plants at once, because they positively affect each other and increase productivity. Therefore, it is better to plant in the same area both bushes and vines of several specimens of different species.
Popular varieties of honeysuckle honeysuckle:
- Belgica - the name comes from the country of Belgium, the flowers are pink and purple, the berries are red.
- Harleguin - flowers are very picturesque pink, trimmed with a light border.
- Munster - light pink flowers with a white border.
- Grahm Thomas - flowers elongated in the form of a tube, the petals are painted in white and yellow shades.
The use of honeysuckle in landscape design
Among the many plants used for vertical gardening, honeysuckle honeysuckle, the planting and care of which are quite simple and not difficult even for novice gardeners, is an ideal option. Liana grows quickly at the top (up to 6 m), wrapping around supports and adjacent surfaces, it has a lot of greenery, it blooms beautifully and also has a wonderful unforgettable aroma.
With the help of clipping, the plant can be given any desired shape, so it is planted along the fence, and to decorate the arbor, to create complex decorative sculptures and compositions. With proper care, this fragrant liana will become an adornment of any country or personal plot.