Winter-hardy berry shrubs with surprisingly tasty fruits are of interest to amateur gardeners. There are about 200 of its species. But mainly fruits of the Far Eastern and East Siberian varieties are suitable for food. This shrub is very unpretentious to the place of growth and care. Use it in group plantings and as hedges. They are durable and not susceptible to disease. Honeysuckle flowers have a special charm, and the berries not only have a wonderful taste, but also contain organic, tanning, coloring matter, pectins, a large amount of vitamin C and P, provitamin A, as well as vitamins B1 and B6, B9. Such a unique combination of benefits, aroma and beauty is rarely seen in nature. The perfect shrub, in a word!
Honeysuckle flowers can be described as captivating. They come in various colors and sizes, and differ not only in beauty, but also in a pleasant smell. In the alpine honeysuckle they are yellowish with a characteristic dark red bloom, in the honeysuckle Maak they are large, white and fragrant. In the American variety, the flowers are honeysuckle yellow inside, purple outside and fragrant. And the golden look has a golden yellow color with a delicious honey smell.
Of course, edible honeysuckle is of interest . It has oblong leaves and a light yellow color of flowers. The berries are oval, blue with a bluish tinge, they have a sweet and sour taste, close to blueberries. They ripen a week earlier than strawberries. Very useful berries for vitamin deficiency, atherosclerosis, scurvy, gastritis, metabolic disorders and as a tonic and restorative agent. Decoctions of the fruits are used as a rinse for sore throat, pharyngitis, stomatitis.
The decorative culture of honeysuckle has an economic purpose. It is used to strengthen ravines. It has bright red and juicy fruits that have a bitter taste - they are poisonous. Therefore, the people call this plant only "wolf berries." But a small number of fruits of the plant Honeysuckle found its application in homeopathy. Honeysuckle wood has good hardness and for this feature it used to be used for shoe nails, ramrods for guns and other crafts. No wonder the hardness of the wood of the plant is reflected in its Latin name, which means “bone of the tree”.
Of decorative forms, honeysuckle climbing, having the form of vines, adorning arbors, walls, arches at any time of the year has also spread. It looks especially beautiful during the flowering period - a continuous carpet of fragrant elongated tubular spectacular inflorescences at the very ends of the shoots. All this beauty is flowers. Honeysuckle, by the way, is just a wonderful honey plant. In most of this species of honeysuckle, numerous leaves are elliptical in shape, below they are bluish and dark green above.
And one more important detail: this type of honeysuckle is growing rapidly and is widespread in Southern and Northern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa. In Russia, this culture grows from the Caucasus to St. Petersburg and is very loved by gardeners. Climbing honeysuckle, which ripens later, is more in demand. The period of its abundant flowering begins from the end of August and lasts until the beginning or even almost until mid-October. This type of plant loves fertile, moist soil and light, but can bloom where penumbra is constantly.
For cultivation of this variety in central Russia, it is recommended that shoots be removed from supports in late autumn and covered with spruce branches or dry leaves on top to prevent damage from severe frosts. But the time of year will change, summer will come, and this plant will give amazing beauty and a wonderful smell of its flowers.