Lonicera japonica Pink Aperitif - Japanese Honeysuckle

The Lonicera japonica 'Pink Aperitif' is a new variety of Japanese honeysuckle that dresses up for a party most of the year. This climbing plant, as beautiful as it is eccentric and fragrant, is adorned in spring with young shoots tinged with cream and shrimp pink, in summer with green leaves animated by young red-bronze shoots that echo the beautiful bicolour cream and red flowers, divinely scented. Like clematis, this climbing plant wraps itself around trees and nearby bushes and requires little maintenance: it thrives with its head in the non-burning sun and its feet in the shade in a relatively moist, ordinary soil.

Japanese honeysuckle is a more or less evergreen woody climbing plant of the Caprifoliaceae family, native to East Asia. This plant shows vigorous growth in nature that is best suited for slightly wild, open spaces.

The 'Pink Aperitif' variety, recently obtained in the United Kingdom by Tim Crowther, stands out with its reduced growth and remarkably coloured vegetation. At maturity, this fast-growing honeysuckle will reach approximately 4m (13ft) in height and 3m (10ft) in width. Its long stems wrap around any support it encounters but can also crawl and form a ground cover. They bear single, ovate leaves arranged opposite each other. The spring shoots are a vivid pink, developing leaves that change from shrimp pink to cream-white, then become green at maturity. The summer growth is also highly coloured, this time in red-copper bronze. From June onwards, many 3cm (1in) tubular flowers appear and continue blooming until the end of summer. Divided into two lips, they display prominent stamens and a bicolour red and cream hue. This penetratingly scented flowering attracts numerous pollinating insects. It is followed by the formation of tiny, fleshy, black-purple berries that are not edible but greatly appreciated by birds.

This striking 'Pink Aperitif' honeysuckle can be planted in the ground, away from harsh sun, with shaded feet. It is naturally perfect for covering anything that needs hiding: fences, wire mesh or sheds, as long as it has a support to cling to. It is less known for its ability to climb narrow supports, turning even the most miniature pole into a vegetated column. It can also spread across the ground in a slightly wild area of the garden. It forms a beautiful combination with clematis. It also has its place in a hedge alongside flowering shrubs such as lilacs, mock oranges, deutzias or even ceanothus. The evergreen foliage under a moderate to mild climate allows you to camouflage a wall or fence, even in winter.