Susan,
First of all to my knowledge the berries are not poisonous but I am not positive. I am outside Buffalo NY and mine starts blooming in spring and blooms all summer right up until frost. In your area it might be an everbloomer ... off and on all season.

I purchased mine from Mail Order Natives in Fl.

Penny

Here is a link that might be useful: Mail Order Natives

I have both Alabama Crimson and Dropmore Scarlet.

They both bloom heavily early in the spring, (May/June here) lightly throughout the summer and heavily again in fall. These are often the last thing blooming in my garden - up until they freeze.

I don't know about the berries being poisonous, BUT I never see that many berries and suspect the birds munch them pretty quickly - of course birds can eat berries poisonous to us.

They like the same conditions as clematis - leaves in the sun/part sun, roots cool and moist, so mulch them well.

Flowers can start on very small plants. One cutting had flowers while it was only about 6"tall, maybe a year old? But they grow very quickly.

I had a bit of fungus warp a few leaves and blossoms one spring - but the vine pulled out of without my interference. They are far and away 'my' hummingbirds favorite plant! You won't regret getting one!

Okay Penny! I ordered my Coral Honeysuckle from Mail Order Natives and received it today. I have it in the window, but am wondering if I can plant it? It says hardy from zone 3, but should I wait until it warms up a bit? Thanks! Christy

Depending on what your temps are right now, I think I would wait just a little while b/4 planting it out especially since it came from a warmer climate. When I got mine I just put it in a pot and kept it slightly moist for a couple of weeks. If you should plant it out before your last frost date and you do get a frost or freeze, just put something over the top of it to protect any new growth until it passes.

Penny

Thanks Penny! I'm excited about this vine. Where I had it last year, I had Morning Glory's for the first time. I wasn't too pleased with them, so I'm putting in the Coral Honeysuckle this year. I hope I'll get some blooms this year! :) Christy

Christy, It should bloom this year. Mine started to bud out as soon as it had a few leaves. It also grew over 8ft. the first year.

Penny

Mine is getting little flower buds that I just noticed on them today. Yippeee, they may be blooming for my first visitors if I'm lucky.

I have ordered a single plant of Lonicera sempervirens "Alabama Crimson" this spring. I'm trying to decide where to put it. I have a 7 ft metal arch-shaped trellis that I'm considering putting over our front walk. There is at least 6 hours of sun there, and the soil is good. What I can't decide is which of the several vines that I'll be growing will be best for the location. It would be nice to have something showy, that doesn't look ratty when it is out of bloom.

Do you think Lonicera sempervirens "Alabama Crimson" would look good in a prominent location like that? Are the blooms conspicuous and pretty? Does it twine and climb in an attractive way? Does the foliage stay reasonably attractive in the heat of summer when the plant might not be blooming all that much? This will be an arch over our main walk leading to the house, so I want it to look nice.

Other candidates for the arch are all annuals or tender perennials like Mina lobata (which might be too big a vine), Eccremocarpus scaber (the leaves might be too sparse on this one), Manettia bicolor, Cardinal vine or Cypress vine, or Scarlet Runner Bean. I suppose I might grow the Lonicera on one side of the arch and one of these on the other, but am not sure what the most compatible pairing might be. If I pick the wrong two, one might overwhelm the other.

What do you think, guys?

Kristin for length of bloom and staying neat and tidy the honeysuckle is a very good choice. I wanted to do the same thing when I finally put my arbor in a permanent location but I think but I may end up puting the crossvine on the arbor instead because it blooms earlier before the bees become a problem since we will have to walk through it constantly to get in and out of the back yard. If the rest of the family wasn't so paranoid about the bees I would put honeysuckle on the arbor.

Penny

Thanks Penny for coming through with some advice. I was afraid my question might have gotten lost and abandoned at the end of the thread. Thanks for seeing it and responding.

Now, the only thing I need to decide is if I should try to grow the honeysuckle up one side, and one of the smaller vines like maybe Manettia bicolor up the other.

I'll have to read up on it, but would welcome more advice from anyone on Lonicera and its suitability for a trellis.

I found this vine locally, and it is gorgeous! The one
I bought is called 'Magnifica'. It is covered in blooms,
and the hummingbirds have found it before I have even had a chance to transplant it!

Thanks for all of the feedback :)

~Susan