Lonicera

(Honeysuckle) Periclymenum Serotina

Lonicera periclymenum Serotina is the late Dutch honeysuckle, a twining climber that carries its flowers in whorled clusters at the shoot tips. Each slender tubular flower is deep purple red on the outside and creamy yellow within, and the scent is strongest in the evening, which is exactly when it draws in moths. It flowers from July into September and follows on with clusters of glossy red berries that the birds take in autumn. The plant grows 4-6 m tall and 1.5-2 m wide and twines around anything it can reach, so give it wires, a trellis or a strong obelisk. Allow 1 plant per m2 and guide the first shoots by hand until they take hold. Bees and butterflies work the flowers by day, and it is at its best on a pergola, an arch or beside a door or seating area where you catch the evening scent, though the red berries are not for eating.

Plant it in full sun or partial shade; flowering is fullest with sun on the top growth, while the base and the roots prefer to stay cool and shaded. Grow it in fertile soil that holds a little moisture and still drains, improved with compost before planting, because honeysuckle on thin dry ground is the one that ends up covered in mildew. Water in dry spells, especially in the first two summers and at the height of summer, and check a plant in a pot much more often, since pot compost dries out far faster than open ground. Prune straight after flowering, in late summer: shorten the flowered shoots by about a third and cut two or three of the oldest stems right out at the base to stop a bare tangle building up on top. It is fully hardy and needs no winter protection, and even a badly overgrown plant can be cut back hard in early spring to start again.

Your order will be hand picked and packed in our strong and sustainable packaging as soon as possible, after which it will be delivered straight from our greenhouse to your door by your chosen carrier. You can follow the journey of your plants via the tracking link you receive in your mail. If you have any questions regarding your order and its shipment, you can get in contact with our support team.

We expect every order to arrive in tip-top shape. We take intensive care of the plants in our greenhouse and use special and as sustainable as possible protective packaging to ship our plants. We also wrote an extensive blog about how to unpack and prepare your plants for growth after shipping. However there are rare occasions where our plants don’t meet their full potential. That’s why all plants are guaranteed for 30 days after arrival, if still in its original nursery pot.