honeysuckle problems

hello there i have a four year old honeysuckle and it is very healthy looking with lots of growth but it has never flowered anyone got any ideas why it is planted in full sun in a south facing garden

 

Do you know which variety it is? Some are freer flowering than others and one, (I think it is L. japonica aureoreticulata) is grown mostly for its variegated leaves. Most honeysuckles are plants of dappled woodland and are happiest in partial shade - although, having said that, I have Lonicera 'Graham Thomas' growing in full sun in a south facing position. If your plant looks healthy, it's probably just a case of waiting. Make sure it has enough water and improve the soil if it's poor.

 

PS I seem to remember that my Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) took a long time to flower, although once it did get going there was no stopping it - to the extent that I decided it was too vigorous for my small garden. (In the American South it is treated as a nuisance - a bit like wild rhododendrons in Britain.) This variety is evergreen.

The native honeysuckle, Lonicera periclymenum, is deciduous and two varieties of it are commonly offered at garden centres: 'Belgica' (early Dutch) which flowers from May to June and 'Serotina' (late Dutch) which blooms from July to October. Therefore, if you have planted 'Serotina', it may bloom for you later in the year.

My own favourite is 'Americana', which has a delicious spicy scent, sometimes described as 'clove', and orange-yellow and purplish flowers.

Although honeysuckles are on the whole great survivors, they revel in good soil which has had plenty of compost added to it.