Sound The Trumpet For The Sweeter Honeysuckle

By Phran Novelli

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - When you see and smell honeysuckle this time of year, it's usually the aggressive alien white variety that's become a smothering invasive weed. But our native, Lonicera sempervirens, known as Trumpet Honeysuckle or Coral Honeysuckle, has brilliant orangey-red flowers, that hummingbirds love - and there's even a bright yellow cultivar too.

Because it's a native, it becomes a nursery for babies of the Snowberry Clearwing moth and the beautiful blue Spring Azure butterfly.

Semi-evergreen, this gentle vine grows to about 20 feet along the ground or up a trellis, and gets red berries in the fall to feed the birds.

So, dig out any of that alien honeysuckle that's invaded your garden and replace it with our long-flowering, colorful, much better-behaved native Coral Honeysuckle to enjoy its beautiful flowers and welcome lots of bees, birds and butterflies to your garden all summer long.