Heaven Scent Honeysuckle Plants

Lonicera periclymenum 'Heaven Scent'

Float away to the heavens with this gloriously perfumed honeysuckle, which has white and pale yellow, very fragrant flowers that open from pink buds. Like most honeysuckle, it is vigorous and easy to grow, and popular with bees, butterflies and ladybirds. The decorative red berries in autumn attract birds.

Good for any number of situations, scrambling over low walls, over arches and pergolas or into trees. It associates very well with other honeysuckles and climbing roses and should be grown in any position where the fragrance can be enjoyed.

The scent is best in the evening when it needs to attract the moths that are its main pollinators.

Browse our varieties of honeysuckle or our full range of climbing plants.

Features:

• Bushy deciduous mid-green foliage
• Cream and pale yellow trumpet flowers from June to September
• Will grow to an eventual height and spread of 7m x 3.5m
• Lovely strong perfume
• Full hardy
• Needs support
• Sun or partial shade
• RHS Plants for Pollinators

Growing 'Heaven Scent' Honeysuckle

It prefers to have its roots moist but is happy in most soils as long as it has good drainage. It will grow in sun or partial shade, but the scent is at its best in full sun.

It only needs pruning right after flowering to keep it within bounds and to remove old, dead and dying growth.

In Your Garden Design

It is a classic cottage garden plant, growing in hedgerows and woodland in the wild, and is particularly suited to informal planting schemes. Grow near where you are going to sit in the evening, close to a window, or by a path so you can enjoy its divine perfume. Go for broke with scent and pair with with classic cottage plants such as sweet peas and wallflowers, and shrubs, such as roses, daphne and myrtle. It would spectacular on an archway fronted by lupin masterpiece and absolutely fabulous with an absolutely fabulous rose.

Did You Know?

'Heaven Scent' is a pretty obvious pun, and a fair number of plants have claimed the name, including a Magnolia, a Polemonium, a Gardenia, a rose ('Scent from Heaven'), and a sweet pea.

Periclymenum translates as 'twist around' referring to the twining habit of the stems. It is a fact made famous by Misalliance, a Flanders & Swann song recorded in 1957, that whereas honeysuckle "spirals clockwise towards the sun", bindweed climbs anti-clockwise. Go and have a look!

How to grow Lonicera Heaven Scent:

Best planted where the roots have a shady run although it will be happy in any situation and with any soil pH.

• It is quite loose and spreading in habit so choose a spot where it has room to expand.
• Plant it in a hole larger than the rootball.
• Backfill with good quality compost, having incorporated a handful of bonemeal.
• Firm in well and water.
• Prune by 1/3rd after flowering and remove any untidy growth.

Look out for:

May be susceptible to mildew and aphids, but it rarely causes a severe problem. Because of the plant's attractiveness to insects and bees it is inadvisable to use chemical sprays.