Lonicera x brownii Dropmore Scarlet

This climbing honeysuckle or Lonicera (x) brownii Dropmore Scarlet is a famous hybrid variety appreciated for its vigorous growth and perpetual summer flowering, in tight clusters of slender tubular flowers in a scarlet orange-red colour, which stands out beautifully against its blue-green foliage. The almost absence of fragrance in the flowers is largely compensated by their warm and invigorating hue! Perfect colours to brighten up the semi-shade where this climbing plant particularly thrives.

The Brown Dropmore Scarlet honeysuckle belongs to the Caprifoliaceae family. It is a Canadian horticultural creation dating back to before 1950, credited to F.L. Skinner. It is a woody and climbing plant, with voluble stems that twine around any available support. Its growth is quite fast, reaching about 3.50m (11ft) in length or height and 2.50m (8ft) in width, sometimes more depending on the growing conditions. Its foliage will persist during mild winters, but it will be deciduous in colder regions. It consists of elliptical, slightly leathery leaves, measuring 4 to 5cm (2in) in length, with a blue-green colour, arranged in an opposite manner on the stems. Flowering occurs in two distinct waves; it is abundant in June-July, then reappears in September-October. It takes the form of clusters composed of numerous tubular flowers with 5 lobes, measuring 3 to 5cm (1 to 2in) in length, from which long stamens and a very elongated pistil emerge. Their colour ranges from scarlet red to bright orange, with a yellowish interior. They are primarily pollinated by night-flying moths. The flowers are followed by small green berries, then red berries, turning black-blue when ripe, sought after by birds but toxic to humans.

The Dropmore Scarlet honeysuckle looks superb trained on a trellis or wooden fence, combined with a climbing rose with white or light yellow flowers on a pergola, or planted behind trimmed boxwood hedges. It also fits perfectly in a slightly wild hedge, with easy-to-maintain shrubs such as bush honeysuckles, botanical roses (Rosa moyesii, R. complicata, R. hugonis), or viburnums (snowball, wayfaring tree). It is also possible to train it as a large bush, by regular pruning in late winter.