# Northern Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)

> Northern bush honeysuckle, Diervilla lonicera: a shrub of 2 to 4 feet for zones 3 to 7, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/northern-bush-honeysuckle/

![Pale yellow tubular northern bush honeysuckle flowers among glossy, pointed green leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/northern-bush-honeysuckle-1000.jpg?v=b017d4a4 "Northern bush honeysuckle in flower in northern Algoma, Ontario, on June 22, 2024. It flowers mostly from early June to early July, and its fruit ripens in September.")
*Photo: Ryan Hodnett, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANorthern_Bush_Honeysuckle_(Diervilla_lonicera)_-_Unorganized_North_Algoma%2C_Ontario_2024-06-22.jpg))*

Shrub, 2 to 4 feet, zones 3 to 7; full sun, part shade or shade; dry or average ground.

We do not grow northern bush honeysuckle, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Northern Bush Honeysuckle |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Dwarf bush honeysuckle, low bush honeysuckle, life-of-man, yellow flowered upright honeysuckle |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 2 to 4 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 4 |
| Zones | 3 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry or average ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, hedge or screen, erosion control |
| Flowers | June to August |
| Fruit | Capsules, September |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated plant. Northern bush honeysuckle rejects its own pollen, so it sets seed only when insects bring pollen from another clonal patch. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens and the forest understory |
| Native in | 24 states |

Northern bush honeysuckle is native in 24 states: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=northern-bush-honeysuckle:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Black Huckleberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-huckleberry/index.html.md) (*Gaylussacia baccata*): shrub, 1 to 3 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Deerberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/deerberry/index.html.md) (*Vaccinium stamineum*): shrub, 5 to 15 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands, sandy barrens and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Downy Arrowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/downy-arrowwood/index.html.md) (*Viburnum rafinesqueanum*): shrub, 3 to 10 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Mapleleaf Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mapleleaf-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum acerifolium*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 3 to 8. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus racemosa*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Carolina Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-buckthorn/index.html.md) (*Frangula caroliniana*): shrub, 10 to 20 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares rocky ground, dry uplands and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Every companion of northern bush honeysuckle in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=northern-bush-honeysuckle)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, University of Minnesota Extension, the University of Maine's extension, Trees and Shrubs Online and the USDA PLANTS Database.