Scarlet Trumpet Honeysuckle

Lonicera x brownii Dropmore Scarlet

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: July to September
• Hardiness: fully hardy

  
  This honeysuckle has a real wow factor, with long, trumpet-shaped, vivid scarlet flowers from July to September, followed in hot summers by small red berries. Although it is unscented, the flower colour more than makes up for the lack of fragrance, and its handsome blue-green leaves provide valuable all-year round cover for a pergola or boundary wall. An unusual climber for a cottage-style garden.
  

• Garden care: Cut back established plants after flowering, removing a third of the flowering shoots. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of well-rotted compost or manure around the base of the plant in early spring.