I finally broke down and dug up the wonderful smelling but highly invasive Japanese honeysuckle that has been growing along my back fence. I have seen several patches of it growing in the wild area behind my property, and was feeling guilty about being part of the problem.
Unfortunately this was one of my wife's favorite plants, due to the fragrance and the "honey drops" she taught my daughter to lick from the flowers. Does anyone have any suggestions for a more environmentally friendly plant that would share some of these traits?
Thanks!
Dennis
Japanese honeysuckle replacement?
I took mine out too, and planted Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LOSE
You could also try White Honeycuckle Lonicera albiflora,
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=LOAL
Both are native and non invasive.
Josephine.
Dennis, I dug up my honeysuckle bed this summer too. I had very mixed feelings about it. It's so invasive, and I was just exhausted from trying to keep it in check. But it also smells so heavenly. At our house, it was me who went out and "drank" the nectar. Well, me and the critters. :)
There are lots of things you could plant for your wife's fragrance preferences. Gardenia has the most wondeful fragrance in the world, IMO, and to me, the real thing is nothing like the perfumes or other man-made attempts to extract it. I wait for it all year. Most people love roses and brugs for their fragrance. Several people have a lot of brugs coming to the swap. For the non-sweet fragrances, a lot of us really love rosemary beds. Funny--I don't like rosemary at all in my food--but I grow it because I can't get enough of the fragrance.
For the "fun" stuff, I think a lot of the fun for a child is just to have a plant out there where you're playing that you can eat. Kind of a novelty. A plant I remember getting a kick from as a kid is oxalis (the ornamental kind with pink blooms). It's not sweet like honeysuckle--it's more tart like, say, a pomegranate or a kinda sweet lemon or something. Don't really know how to describe it. But when I was a child, I sure thought it was fun to pluck a stem and chew on it. If you can contain it to a pot, any of the mints would do the same thing.
Hey Dennis if you really want honeysuckle I just happen to have the native coral one here and I know it is sending out runners through the terrace so I can dig some up with roots and bring them to the RU with me for ya
I've got a coral honeysuckle out back that we have enjoyed for the long lasting flowers and the many hummingbirds, and I've planted another one next to a trellis in our courtyard. Neat plant. :)
I think I will try to out a gardenia in a container next year. We have a semi-enclosed courtyard area that should do a great job of holding in the fragrance. I'll also try to come up with some good edibles. Mint seems like a good idea, since it also has the good smell.
And when my wife is feeling nostalgic for the honeysuckle of her childhood, we can always visit one of the too many patches I have found in the woods.
Dennis