From: Ron Rovansek
<Rovansek.Ronaldj@EPAMAIL.EPA.GOV>
To: HUMNET-L@listserv.lsu.edu
<HUMNET-L@listserv.lsu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 11:50 AM
Subject: winter honeysuckle

>HUMNETters,
>Winter honeysuckle (lonicera fragrantissima) is pretty easy to
start from
>cuttings - I won't say foolproof to spare the feelings of any of
you who
>might try and fail- but it is pretty easy. just stick a branch in
the
>ground - you might remove excess leaves before you stick it.
Choose a woody
>branch of about pencil diameter. You could start them right
where you want
>them to grow to save transplanting efffort later. This plant
produces
>flowers on older wood. I think that wood produced this
spring will bear
>flowers not next winter but the following winter, making the
wood almost
>two years old when it bears flowers, This, combined with
relatively slow
>growth in the first couple of years (slow relative to other
hummer plants
>like salvias, not really slower than other woody plants) makes
winter
>honeysuckle a very slow starter in producing blooms, and a
long-term
>investment for a hummer gardener. On the other hand, it is a
permanent
>addition to your garden, provides cover and flowers, and
takes any cold
>that Louisiana can dish out.
>
>If you know what to look for you can almost certainly find
some winter
>honeysuckle growing in your town. It is planted everywhere
from the gulf
>coast to PA (at least, maybe farther north). It is even used by
the NJ
>Dept. of Transportation along interstate highways, so stealing
a few
>thousand cuttings would not be a problem up here.
>
>One problem with growing this plant way up north (i.e. PA,
NJ) is that it
>will bloom in April, maybe March, instead of Dec-Mar like it
does farther
>south, making it not so great for winter hummers up here.
>
>Ron Rovansek
>Easton, PA
>===============================

Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 18:05:10 -0600
Reply-To: BB for Hummingbirds and Gardening for them in the Southeast <HUMNET-L@LISTSERV.LSU.EDU>

Subject: [HUMNET-L] Fw: winter honeysuckle

Winter honeysuckle is a slow grower at first, and blossoms appear on wood
that is almost two years old (if I recall correctly how this works. I
figured it out a few years ago but may be confused now). At any rate, I am
pretty sure that growth produced this spring / summer will not have
flowers next winter, but will the following winter; hence, the wood on
which flowers appear is almost two years old when the flowers are present.

These shrub often seem to languish for their first year, but once they get
going they are not particularly slow growers. They tolerate a wide range
of conditions - sun to shade, dry to moist to soggy - yours should be in a
good spot and as long as it is alive, there is hope. It could be 8 feet
high and twice as wide eventually, and then will be a self-contained
winter hummer haven.

Ron Rovansek
HUntington Beach, CA