Re: Lonicera Japonica

At 06:41 PM 4/24/00 +0300, Yoel Kortick wrote:
>I recently asked the group if anyone has had experience with Japanese 
>honeysuckle vines, known in the vernacular here as "yaarot yapaniot".  The 
>botanical name is "Lonicera Japonica".  Anyone out there have any 
>experience with them?  Perhaps in a windy area?

Hi Yoel -

I'm curious to know more about why these plants are not doing well.  Can 
you describe the site/soil a bit more?  Is the wind a dry, hot wind?  Or a 
cold wind?  I'm trying to imagine what growing conditions are like in 
Israel, but I'm sure my preconceived notions of your land are getting in my 
way.

Lonicera japonica is rampant in the Bay Area where I live, but I'm not sure 
it is so much so in the warmer interiors regions.  It thrives in warm 
drought in our coastal areas, but I think it tends to decline in really 
hot, hot and windy places.  Perhaps some of our subscribers from the 
Sacramento or desert valleys of California can affirm/dispute this?

Another vine which I see reveling in the heat, and taking the wind well is 
Distictis buccinatoria (Phaedranthus buccinatorius, Bignonia cherere), the 
Blood-Red Trumpet Vine.  The dark green foliage quickly becomes a dense 
cover on chain-link fences, and the handsome brick-red, yellow throated 
trumpets are produced on-and-off year 'round in our climate.  They fade to 
a purplish-red color, creating a two-tone effect.  Bougainvillea is another 
vine for wind and heat, but perhaps a bit harder to train and less likely 
to make a 'wall' of foliage.  Tecomaria capensis, Cape Honeysuckle, a 
shrub-vine, take both in stride, and its glossy, evergreen foliage is very 
handsome.  It tends to produce its red-orange, melon, orange, or yellow 
flowers from mid-summer into fall (or winter) after the heat has built up 
well.  It can even be pruned as a hedge, to keep it flatter along the 
fence, though being pruned ridgedly into a 'box' I think this diminishes 
its character.

I hope this helps!
Regards,
Sean O.

Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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