Lexington, KY - Pretty, fragrant white blooms in late spring. Abundant red berries in the fall. Grows in full sun to deep shade and is tolerant of all manner of site conditions. Birds eat the berries and nest in the branches. Virtually no disease or pest problems. Fifteen feet tall and wide at maturity, with an attractive, arching vase shape when limbed up. Provides good screening.
Judging by this description, Amur (or Bush) Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) sounds like the perfect shrub for so many situations. So why is it called a "common, noxious woody weed" on the Ohio State University Web site?
Amur Honeysuckle originated in Manchuria and Korea. It was once thought to be an excellent food and cover source for wildlife - but it is neither.
Birds need food with high fat content to survive the winter. Amur Honeysuckle berries are high in carbohydrates, making them bad for the birds, comparable to us popping M&Ms for lunch. These plants spread and grow very quickly, with no native pests or diseases to restrain them. They shade out native flowers and trees, sources of high quality food that our birds depend upon. Within a few years an area infested with Amur Honeysuckle will become a monoculture of pretty red berries.
To make matters worse, it seems that birds that build nests in Amur Honeysuckle are more likely to have their nests attacked by predators, perhaps in part because of their low hanging branches and lack of thorns or other defenses.
Amur Honeysuckle clearly has no place in our landscape.
Better Berries
Kentucky offers superior choices for spring bloom and fall berries, taken right from our palette of native plants and readily available in local garden centers.
Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia) and Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) grow at the woodland edge; they will do fine in half shade to full sun. Nonetheless, more sun means more blooms and berries. They are both drought and disease resistant and quite adaptable to varying soil conditions. Chokeberry is better in a mass planting due to its tendency to be leggy. A few shrubs planted together will result in "almost a sea of red in fall and winter" due to the red berries and the brilliant red fall leaf color, says Michael Dirr, author of "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs."
Juice from these berries is very astringent and not at all sweet, but high in Vitamin C and antioxidants, and can be used to make wine or jam.
Deciduous Holly (Ilex verticillata) grows in sun to part shade and prefers moist, acidic soils but tolerates a range of conditions including wet soil. The spring flowers and fall leaf color are not showy, but the berries certainly are. Bright red and glossy, the fruits are held well into the winter. Hollies are dioecious, meaning that a male is needed nearby to pollinate the females, and only the females bear fruit.
There are many native Viburnums. For an overview, please see "Flowers, Fruit and Fall Foliage" in the September, 2009 issue of this magazine. Dirr again sums it up nicely: "With their abundance of flower, handsome foliage, robust constitution, and frequently stunning fruits, viburnums are among the most beautiful and versatile hardy shrubs available to gardeners."
Eastern Wahoo (Euonymous atropurpureus) is a more unusual selection, available from Shooting Star Nursery in Georgetown (www.shootingstarnursery.com) and Highland Moor Nursery in Midway (www.highlandmoor.com). Wahoo will add interesting form and texture to your garden year round, but in the fall it will be the envy of your neighborhood. The scarlet fruit is outstanding and the fall leaf color can be lovely.
Kentucky is home to another euonymous, known as Hearts-a-Bustin', or strawberry bush (Euonymous americanus). This shrub, common in the wild, could easily be overlooked most of the year, but a fruiting specimen is another story entirely. In the fall the stems are laden with brightly colored fruits that look like strawberries from a distance. Up close, you can see that the round crimson husks have burst open to reveal bright orange seeds.
Now is the perfect time for a trip to your local garden center to see these shrubs full of berries. And fall is a great time to plant. Why should you resist?