oh dear didn't mean to sound that way I just ment most of ya'll say there too evasive and that they will overrun the yard. C

Honeysuckles are typically pollinated by bumblebees and hummingbirds, I believe, not honeybees, which reduces the danger of inadvertant stings significantly.

Not all honeysuckles are bad, BTW, just that d*** Japanese one that got out of its cage and took over the South.

Marty

And unfortunately, it's that d*mned Japanese one that smells SOOOO good!

thank you so much. I think I'm going to keep them on the lower part of the deck were wanting to attract hummingbirds anyway. C

Crystal, if you want the best smell around then get some Datura! The bees are too busy trying to get to the flowers to bother with anything else. If you sit in your swing in the evening then the flowers and the aroma will be awesome!!! They bloom every evening between 6:30-8:00. This Summer there were several weeks where we had well over 50 blooms a night around the patio. I can't describe how wonderful it was.

I don't blame you for wanting it - "Purple Leaf Honeysuckle" is beautiful, but unfortunately, it's a Japanese Honeysuckle! I have very fond memories of Honeysuckle. My grandmother taught me how to suck the nectar from them, and I've always loved their fragrance. But, now that I'm doing my own gardening, I've learned that the way those grow that it's more work than I care for to keep it under control and they are invasive, not only in our own gardens, but in the natural areas as well.

I'm doing a garden restoration of a property with Japanese Honeysuckle growing on the fence line on all three sides of the back yard. If you had been with me the past two times, first for 5 hours and the second for 3 hours pulling honeysuckle out of shrubs, trying to dig up the roots and runners (it roots at each node and sends up sprouts) you'd never plant one ever! By the way, I'm only half-way down one side and will have to go back over what I've already done again once the leaves have fallen to be sure I haven't missed any. It's a nightmare. Surely I haven't gotten it all, so I'll have to use an herbicide carefully in the spring when it starts putting on new growth and try not to kill the good plants. Oh, another thing, the Honeysuckle was covered with berries and as I was working, birds were feeding and flying off to plant the seeds for someone else to deal with.