Property News · December 26, 2015

Alys Fowler: ‘This plant is hellbent on bringing all the bees to your yard’


Plant it in a front garden or by the back door: however delicious the scent, you’re probably not going to trudge to the far end of the garden in the thick of winter just for a sniff If you make a winter honeysuckle (Lonicera x purpusii) happy, it dusts itself in creamy-white, highly fragrant flowers. Like many winter-flowering species, its scent is so strong that it carries for some distance – I’ve often found myself, nose up in the air, like a cartoon character, wandering around streets and into parks trying to pinpoint that heady, sweet fragrance. It’s not there to please you, however, but to guide in pollinators still on the wing. To win the competition game in winter, flowers need to be perfumed with the sort of scent that travels and lingers – which is why, once they weigh up the rewards of scent versus showiness, nearly all winter-flowering plants choose scent: robust, small flowers can withstand the weather better than big, blowsy ones.Left to its own devices, winter honeysuckle grows into a handsome shrub, densely branched and rounded. It can be coaxed to hug a wall or fence, and although initially it may need tying in, eventually the stems will twine. The best cultivar is ‘Winter Beauty’, which has clusters of cream flowers with prominent, yellow anthers. It’s a tough thing, as happy in an exposed site as in a sheltered one, and it’s not fussy which way it faces, provided it has some sun. It also makes a lovely cut flower, so if the weather outside is too much, bring some indoors. Sweetest honeysuckle (L. fragrantissima) is slightly more tidy and compact. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Alys Fowler: ‘This plant is hellbent on bringing all the bees to your yard’

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