Little warrior - orange honeysuckle
Orange honeysuckle has been a gift for a garden newbie like me, its resilience and forgiveness are such a lift...
My growing journey
2023 - I bought this orange honeysuckle in 2023, hoping it would one day cover the chain-link fence - just like my neighbor’s, which turns their concrete wall into a stunning wall of flowers. After its first beautiful bloom, the leaves got damaged that summer.
2024 - I thought it might not make it, but it surprised me - it returned strong last spring, full of life, with abundant, lovely orange blooms in soft, sweet fragrance. The leaf issue came back again last summer.
2025 - Now it’s leafing out like nothing happened, the solo star of the garden -resilient, persistent, and clearly determined to climb that fence and thrive.
What i’ve learned
Orange honeysuckle’s resilience and forgiveness are such a lift. Before I started gardening seven years ago, I had idealized it as a way to bring peace and healing. But the reality was more frustration than fulfillment in the early years. It wasn’t until a couple years ago, when I figured out what plants actually work in my yard, that things started to turn around. Gardening has taught me patience and how to deal with failure. The healing doesn’t just come from the harvest—it’s in growing and learning alongside the plants.
About the plant
Native to northwestern North America, orange honeysuckle is also known as Western trumpet honeysuckle. It’s a deciduous, perennial vine. The flowers are highly attractive to hummingbirds. While the orange-red berries aren’t a top choice, they are eaten by a variety of birds, including robins, juncos, flickers, and finches.
@Emese-Réka Fromm thank you for the restack!
Beautiful!