Most fragrant plants of my British garden: Lonicera japonica var. Halliana - Japanese Honeysuckle

Lonicera japonica var. Halliana, also known as Hall's Prolific Japanese Honeysuckle, is one of the most fragrant plants you can grow in temperate areas including the UK, filling the air in late spring and early summer with its wonderful sweet scent rich of citrus notes, definitely one of my favourite fragrances I can smell in my British garden. The plant is also known as silver and gold honeysuckle because the flowers open white and then they turn to yellow when they age. It is a very vigorous twining vine, ideally suited for partial shade and well drained soil but very adaptable to a wide range of conditions, so much that can become pretty invasive, so ensure to keep this plant under control otherwise will very probably take over your garden, but considering the perfume that its flowers are able to spread around the garden, this is one of my top plants that I would recommend for a fragrant garden. I hope you enjoyed the video and if so, it would be great if you can please subscribe to my channel. Also if you have any questions, please let me know in your comments and I will try yo answer as soon as I can. Thanks for watching and hopefully see you in my next video.

[@greenthumb1658]

oh, the smell from it, oh! jasmine! very good smell!

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

Indeed, I also love the smell of many jasmines, but also several honeysuckles like Halliana have an incredible scent!!!

[@gregmoore167]

Wow, wow, wow...I learned so much...the previous owner of my house planted Clematis along with the Japanese Honeysuckle! BTW, the honeysuckle has taken over, and if not careful the brambles will take over completely!

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

Thanks very much for the very nice comment: both honeysuckles and brambles are very vigorous plants indeed, so it is essential to prune these plants regularly in order for them not to overtake nearby plants, that are usually a lot slower in growing. Luckily many Clematis varieties are very vigorous as well, therefore they will be able to emerge every now and then from the honeysuckle branches, and I think if you have varieties that bloom at different times, they offer a wide range of amazing colour varieties that match very well with this gorgeous honeysuckle for a spectacular combination of colour and scent

[@anunrealproduction1438]

well done ty.. a very comprehensive guide to this plant.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

thanks very much for the very nice comment, very pleased you have liked the video

[@lustalmighty2384]

Great vid, I'm excited to grow my honeysuckle plant.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

Glad you liked the video, the Lonicera japonica halliana is definitely one of the easiest to grow and most fragrant, I love it

[@hpt08]

You sound like a well versed authority on UK garden plants. You should make more videos!

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

thanks very much, I agree I should definitely make more videos... do you have any specific interest in any categories of plants?

[@hpt08]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 maybe community garden plants are a good category. It's hard to pick the right kind of plant in those situations. Maintenance can be difficult with contract garden teams that tend to do more harm than good. But I guess that's more of a garden management thing.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@hpt08 community garden plants are a wide category of plants... some community gardens can be for ornamental purposes, some others for cultivating food.. I need to find out what arethe most common community garden styles in order to plan a video about community garden plants... I will definitely do some research about

[@anunrealproduction1438]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 I am interested in the mulch layer in dark forests

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@anunrealproduction1438 unfortunately I don't have much experience in that, I never mulch in my garden, as the conditions in my garden between winter and spring are very humid and most of my plants would risk to rot their new growths if I don't remove it at the right time, and it is very difficult to assess the right time with the swinging weather conditions in Kent, England, so I prefer not to mulch at all

[@ianwyles7061]

Great video! Do you think it would be okay on a north facing fence? I’m in the UK too.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

Thanks Ian, I think it will be OK on a North fence, honeysuckle are very adaptable, mines bloom even in shade but obviously the more sun they receive the better will be the blooming

[@ElliotPorter65]

Is this popular with pollinators in the daytime?

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

yes, I see both bees and butterflies attracted to its flowers, in addition to many moths in the evening

[@ElliotPorter65]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 That's awesome, supposedly it is now naturalised in Southern England which is amazing considering it is my favourite Honeysuckle.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@ElliotPorter65 I love it too, even if it is actually quite an invasive plant in temperate climates, I know in North America is causing so much troubles to native species

[@ElliotPorter65]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 it seems to run quite a bit, supposedly the Hall's cultivars aren't as vigorous. Interesting how it destroys trees in the United States yet something like that hasn't happened here (yet).

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@ElliotPorter65 actually I have read a book called "the hidden life of trees" and I remember that was mentioning that even in Europe , honeysuckles are known to kill trees strangling them

[@sleepygwenno]

Does yours have flowerbuds already? My Horwood Gem one is but Halliana isn’t showing any yet! 🙀

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

No flower buds yet on my halliana yet either, but please bear in mind different honeysuckles can bloom in very different months

[@sleepygwenno]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 I’m in wales so it’s a bit colder! Might have to wait until July

[@Andry-iv2gz]

Halliana is amazing, but the most fragrant lonicera I ever had is the lonicera periclymenum “scentsation”

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

thanks very much for the information, when I smell "scentsation" during daytime in garden centres doesn't seem much, but maybe at night is a lot better!!!

[@ElliotPorter65]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 I've got some in the front garden, you can't really smell it in the day.

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@ElliotPorter65 some honeysuckle smell indeed a lot more in the evening than at daytime, but halliana in my garden is beautifully scented all day long

[@igorlupu7460]

Hi. Why my honeysuckle halliana didn't flower in UK? Im waiting already 3 years

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

It might need more sun, if they are in too much shade, they will not bloom for a while

[@igorlupu7460]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 i planted it in most suny part into my garden, also near in a pot i have a vinegrape and it never bloom. Possible is about triming or bad soil? In what month did you trim your honeysuckle? Or probably im cutting it too much

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@igorlupu7460 I trim my honeysuckles in winter, actually I pruned them last week indeed. the flowers are produced on the new shoots, so if you trim your honeysuckle in early or mid spring, this might be the reason it doesn't bloom in late spring - early summer. About the soil, they like it moist and well drained, they don't like dry soil. Where do you live?

[@igorlupu7460]

@@plantreviewsuk1204 i live in the UK Leicester, (Leicestershire) usually im cutting plants and trees in middle of February..

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

@@igorlupu7460 February is a good time to prune honeysuckle... maybe might help some watering in spring and summer, as the roots of the honeysuckle need to be kept moist

[@sarahholding1315]

How long does it flower for in UK

[@plantreviewsuk1204]

in the UK blooms April to August, depending on where your location is. I live in Ashford, Kent, and in my garden it blooms mostly between June and July, spreading its amazing fragrance throughout the garden