# Southern Bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla sessilifolia) > A tough, suckering native shrub of southern mountain balds and rocky slopes, with clusters of sulfur-yellow summer flowers for bumble bees. Also called smooth southern bush-honeysuckle, sessile leaf bush honeysuckle. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/southern-bush-honeysuckle/ ![Southern bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla sessilifolia) sulfur-yellow trumpet flowers among red-tinged leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/southern-bush-honeysuckle-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, CC BY-SA 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADiervilla_sessilifolia_Zadrzewnia_bezogonkowa_2020-09-20_01.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 3 to 5 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 4 to 8 - Grows wild in: The Appalachians, rocky ground and dry uplands - Native range: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Drought tolerant, Showy flowers, Wildlife value, Erosion control - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Southern bush-honeysuckle is a low, suckering native shrub of the southern Appalachians and a cousin of the true honeysuckles. Despite the name, it is not one of the invasive Asian bush honeysuckles. It is a tough plant for dry banks, and its summer flowers are of special value to bumble bees. Use it to hold a dry, sunny bank, as a small hedge, or as a ground-covering shrub. ## Size, growth and what to expect It grows at a medium rate, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a low, thicket-forming shrub of 3 to 5 feet and about as wide, spreading by suckers. Its glossy, dark green leaves are 2 to 6 inches long, with red veins and stems, and the new growth is bronze-purple. Crowded clusters of sulfur-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers, each about half an inch long, open on the new shoots from June to August. Small brown capsules follow and show from August to October. The flowers turn partly dull red with age, and in fall the leaves sometimes turn red or purple. It grows wild on high mountain balds, rocky slopes, roadsides and stream banks. It is the commonest bush-honeysuckle of the southern Appalachians, from North Carolina and Tennessee south to Georgia and Alabama. ## How to grow Southern Bush-honeysuckle Southern bush-honeysuckle is best in full sun and takes part shade. It grows in average to dry, well-drained soil, and it thrives on windy, sunny, dry sites where little else will grow. It will not take salt or soggy clay. Set plants 3 feet apart and keep them 3 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. Pick the brown capsules in fall and rub out the small seeds. Sow them shallowly in spring, with no special treatment. Softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings also root readily. Water weekly through the first summer if rain is short, and after that it seldom needs it. It spreads by underground stems into a colony but is not invasive. It flowers on the tips of the new growth, so cut it back in late winter or early spring if it needs it, clearing out old and winter-killed stems. Deer seldom browse it. Each flower carries both male and female parts, so there are no male and female plants to pair. Bumble bees work the flowers, and hummingbirds and butterflies visit them too. No serious pest troubles it, though leaf spot and powdery mildew can appear. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Diervilla sessilifolia](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/diervilla-sessilifolia/) - [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Diervilla sessilifolia](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=278948) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Diervilla sessilifolia](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DISE) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Diervilla lonicera](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=DILO) - [Trees and Shrubs Online: Diervilla sessilifolia (Christian and Purvis 2025)](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/diervilla/diervilla-sessilifolia/) - [Trees and Shrubs Online: Diervilla, genus account](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/diervilla/) - [NatureServe Explorer: Diervilla sessilifolia, Southern Bush-honeysuckle](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.150947/Diervilla_sessilifolia) - [Alabama Plant Atlas: Diervilla sessilifolia](http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=1376) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Diervilla sessilifolia](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/DISE) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Southern Bush-honeysuckle, add ?species=southern-bush-honeysuckle with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=southern-bush-honeysuckle&zone=4&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Southern Bush-honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=southern-bush-honeysuckle): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=southern-bush-honeysuckle - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Southern Bush-honeysuckle is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=southern-bush-honeysuckle - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Southern Bush-honeysuckle needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=southern-bush-honeysuckle:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Southern Bush-honeysuckle flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.