Lonicera x heckrottii Firecracker

Lonicera x heckrotii 'Firecracker' is a honeysuckle with a climbing, compact and bushy habit, and moderate dimensions, which allows it to be integrated into a small garden or grown in a large pot on the patio. It seduces with its long and abundant summer flowering, vividly coloured with floral and spicy scents. Its flowers, very numerous, in a mix of pink, salmon and orange tones, are enhanced by a beautiful green-blue foliage, more or less evergreen in winter depending on the climate. This variety is also very ornamental when grown as a shrub, in a hedge or a field of plants.

The Lonicera x Heckrotii 'Firecracker' is a horticultural hybrid with uncertain origins. Its parent, L. x Heckrotii, is the result of the cross-breeding of L.sempervirens and L. americana. These plants all belong to the Caprifoliaceae family. 'Firecracker' is a deciduous to evergreen variety, with a shrub-like to climbing habit. The mature plant will reach an average height of 3m (10ft) with a spread of 2m (7ft). The particularly generous flowering from June-July to September occurs at the end of the young shoots, throughout the growth period. The tubular flowers, 4cm (2in) long, are a deep pink-red-violet colour and open on two lips that change from salmon pink to orange, and emit a powerful fragrance. They are arranged in dense whorls in the axils of the leaves, producing some non-edible red berries. The young voluble branches are reddish in colour, as well as the juvenile foliage, adding an ornamental touch of colour to this charming honeysuckle. The foliage consists of sheathing and rounded leaves, 5cm (2in) long, with a beautiful green-blue hue and a pruinose appearance when ripe.

Lonicera Firecracker can be trained to climb on a trellis, a fence or an espalier, especially on a pergola located on a patio, a terrace, or near the house where its fragrant flowering will be highly appreciated. It can also, according to each person's desires and tastes, be placed on a fence or a stone wall where it will gracefully cascade. When grown as a shrub, it will enhance a flower bed close to the house or the foreground of a flowering hedge, the edge of a grove... There are plenty of combinations with clematis: for example, it can be associated with small clematis such as Clematis patens Shin-Shigyoku, Prince Charles, winter jasmine or officinalis, perennial peas (Lathyrus latifolius), a small climbing rose 'Laguna', bright pink or Ghislaine de Féligonde and Alchemist in warm tones.