Mountain Bush-honeysuckle

Size, growth and what to expect

No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like its close relative southern bush-honeysuckle, about a foot and a half a year. It makes a compact shrub of 3 to 6 feet that spreads 4 to 8 feet by suckers. It is hairy in all its parts, and its toothed leaves are 1.5 to 4 inches long and densely hairy beneath.

Crowded clusters of pale yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers open from June to August on the new shoots. Small, hairy seed capsules ripen from July to September. The leaves turn yellow and red in fall.

It grows wild on bluffs, cliffs, rocky banks and moist rocky woods, often near streams. Its small range lies in the southern Appalachians, from North Carolina and Tennessee to Georgia and Alabama, and it is uncommon throughout.

How to grow Mountain Bush-honeysuckle

Mountain bush-honeysuckle grows in part shade or full sun, and it takes light shade. It wants an average, well-drained soil, and it handles clay and rocky ground. Set plants 4 feet apart and keep them 4 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow it as southern bush-honeysuckle is sown. Pick the dry capsules in fall and rub out the small seeds. Sow them shallowly in spring, with no special treatment.

Water weekly through the first summer if rain is short. It spreads by underground stems into a colony, which suits a slope or a woodland edge. It flowers on the new growth, so any pruning belongs in late winter.

Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Bees and hawkmoths pollinate the bush-honeysuckles. No serious pest or disease troubles it, though leaf spot and powdery mildew can appear.